HORWICH’S Sophie Hancock added to her growing list of honours when she took bronze in the shot on the opening day of the BT Paralympic World Cup in Manchester.

The 23-year-old, who claimed shot and discus bronze at the same event 12 months ago, produced a personal best throw of 7.64metres to finish behind Beijing gold medallist Raoua Tlili of Tunisia and China’s Genjimisu Meng.

And while she failed to upgrade last year’s medal to silver or gold, Hancock was delighted with her performance after ensuring qualification for next year’s IPC World Athletics Championships in New Zealand.

“I’m really pleased with that – it means I have now qualified for the World Championships,” she said.

“That was my main aim and I am delighted to have done that,” said the former Rivington and Blackrod High School student.

“It was a personal best as well and to do that with the competition there has been here is brilliant.

“This is just the start of the season so I have only competed once this year so far.

“I have qualified now for the World Champs in New Zealand in January and that’s what we have all been working for. I came third, got a personal best and qualified for the worlds. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Hancock’s performance at the largest international multi-sport disability competition leading up to London 2012 is another step in the right direction with only the two best throwers in the world eclipsing her impressive display.

And despite the presence of Tlili and Meng limiting her chances of landing gold, the Bolton ace insists mixing it with the best in the business is crucial if she is to land Paralympic Games gold.

“The girl from Tunisia and the girl from China are both ranked ahead of me, so to have the chance to compete against them is brilliant,” she added.

“Everything is leading up to New Zealand and the quality of the opposition really helps and gives me something to work towards.

“It gives you an idea of how things are going to be at the World Championships and Paralympics.I really appreciate having the number one and two in my class come over as well to compete here.”

The BT Paralympic World Cup continues until Monday and features the world’s leading international Paralympic athletes in athletics, seven-a-side football, swimming and wheelchair basketball.

The supporting partners are Northwest Regional Development Agency and Manchester City Council. Visit www.btparalympicworldcup.com.