Peterborough man steers GB to the Wheelchair Basketball World Championship Final

​GB were agonisingly beaten 67-66 by the United States in the final after leading 43-32 at half-time.

Co-captain Manning scored freely throughout the tournament, claiming a remarkable 31 points in a group win over eventual bronze medalists Iran and 19 points in a 64-54 semi-final success against the same opponents.

Manning has long been part of the British Wheelchair Basketball set up and is no stranger to international success.

Just three months after joining his local club the Peterborough Phoenix, Manning was invited to attend his first GB Junior Camp – earning a call-up for his first international tournament, representing Great Britain at the 2006 U22 European Championships.

Five European Championships, bronze at the Paralympics and Commonwealth Games and a world championship title later, Manning was part of the squad in Dubai for a tournament that had been delayed by a year due to the pandemic.

GB beat the United States 65-56 earlier in the tournament when Manning contributed 12 points and also saw off Italy and South Korea.

Reflecting on a positive tournament, and two huge competitions still to come in the European Championships in the Netherlands and the Paris 2024 Paralympics, Manning was proud of the team’s application against some of the best in the world:

He said: “We will dust ourselves down and go again, to lose by one point is difficult, but I am extremely proud of the squad for how we have played in this competition. With a bit of time, we will be ready to focus on our next challenge.

“In some ways, we’re fortunate because in a month’s time we are playing at the European Championships where we can get back on the court for some redemption and hopefully come back with a gold medal this time.

" The Paris Games are absolutely on my mind, and Paralympic gold is the one I haven’t got, and we don’t have it yet as a team.”

Manning was part of the GB squad that claimed an historic World Championship win in 2018.