Ayaz Bhuta

Ayaz Bhuta
MBE
Date of birth (1989-04-17) 17 April 1989 (age 35)
Place of birthBolton, UK
Rugby union career
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
– West Coast Crash ()
Coaching career
Years Team
– West Coast Crash
Medal record
Men's wheelchair rugby
Representing  Great Britain
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo Team competition

Ayaz Mazeed Bhuta MBE (born 17 April 1989) is a British Paralympic wheelchair rugby player and a former wheelchair basketball player who currently plays for the Great Britain national wheelchair rugby team.[1][2] He has represented Great Britain at the Paralympics in 2016 and 2020.

Biography

Ayaz was born with a rare genetic disorder called Roberts Syndrome which affects the growth of bones in arms and legs. He studied at Mount St Joseph School.[3]

Career

He initially played wheelchair basketball but later switched to wheelchair rugby in 2009. He began playing club rugby in 2009 and was subsequently selected to the national team in 2010 for a tri-nation series in Australia. However, after playing in the tri nation tournament in Australia he was axed from the team due to his size. He later worked on his fitness levels and was picked for GBWR Development Squad in 2011. He made his comeback return to the Great Britain team after the end of the 2012 Summer Paralympics.[4]

He made his Paralympic debut representing Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Paralympics and was part of the national wheelchair team which finished at fifth position in the team competition. He was also a key member of the team which won the European Wheelchair Championships in 2015 and 2017.[3]

He won a gold medal with the Great Britain team at the 2020 Summer Paralympics the first time the country had won a medal of any colour in the sport at the Paralympic Games.[5][6]

Bhuta was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to wheelchair rugby.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ "Ayaz Bhuta - Wheelchair Rugby | Paralympic Athlete Profile". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  2. ^ "Wheelchair Rugby - Ayaz Bhuta". Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 4 September 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Ayaz Bhuta – Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby". gbwr.org.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  4. ^ "Ayaz Bhuta". Paralympics.org.uk. British Paralympic Association.
  5. ^ Tokyo, James Toney in (29 August 2021). "Ayaz Bhuta slays USA to take Paralympic 'murderball' gold in Tokyo". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  6. ^ "Ayaz Bhuta's Bolton family celebrate his Paralympic Tokyo 2020 gold medal". The Bolton News. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  7. ^ "No. 63571". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N17.
  8. ^ "New Year Honours 2022: Jason Kenny receives a knighthood and Laura Kenny made a dame". BBC Sport. 31 December 2021.