GB's men and women reach SVNS Grand Final in Madrid
- Published
Great Britain's men and women both qualified for this year's SVNS Grand Final after finishing eighth overall.
The men were beaten by Ireland in the semi-final in Singapore before claiming the final qualifying place with a 26-5 victory over Australia in the bronze medal match.
The women's 35-5 victory over Brazil in the group stages secured the last qualifying spot before they were beaten by eventual winners New Zealand in the quarter-finals.
New Zealand claimed the double in the final leg of the league campaign in Singapore as the men beat Ireland in the final to follow the women, who overcame Australia and were also crowned 2024 league winners.
Argentina, meanwhile, became the sixth nation to be crowned men's league winners for the first time in their history.
The inaugural SVNS Grand Final takes place in Madrid between 31 May and 2 June.
GB men's captain Robbie Fergusson says progress makes the tough moments "worthwhile" as they also look forward to next month's final Olympic qualifying tournament as they bid to reach Paris 2024.
"There鈥檚 total belief between the 18 boys, the ones that are at home and couldn鈥檛 make this trip that are injured that are ready to come back in for the next one, and the boys that have slogged it out here for the last six games," said Fergusson.
"It鈥檚 tough going on the body but these moments make it all worthwhile."
GB women have already qualified for the Olympics but their place in the Grand Final was under threat until they beat Brazil and Fiji overcame Japan in their thrilling knockout game.
"We knew we鈥檇 put in the work behind the scenes and we had analysed Brazil so we knew exactly what we were going to do coming into this game," said GB's Isla Norman-Bell.