Wheelchair sports veteran dies at 69

PETER Haslam, one of the founders of Oldham Owls, has died after battling heart disease.

Mr Haslam (69) was paralysed at 25 when he broke his neck in a car accident. In his competitive career, Peter won many medals across several sports, including two Paralympic golds, a silver and a bronze in shooting.

Snooker was always Peter’s main sport and he won a record 11 national titles, seven World Wheelchair Games gold and two silver medals, two Paralympic gold medals and a Paralympic bronze.

Peter was co-founder, team manager and the first chairman of Oldham Owls Wheelchair Sport Club and he was also chairman and team manager of Lodge Moor (now Sheffield Wheelchair Sports Club) two of the most successful clubs in the UK.

He was involved in several wheelchair-orientated sporting bodies at a high level

In 1992 he became chairman of the International Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Sports Federation (ISMWSF) snooker section and was instrumental in renaming the Section ‘Cue Sports’ in 1993 to include 9-ball pool.

After heart attacks in 1998, he had to resign from ISMWSF but in 2000 organised the first European wheelchair pool ranking tournament in Bristol.

His funeral will be at Birtley Crematorium in Durham on Friday, from 2.30pm.