TWO brothers will harness the power of sibling rivalry to shoot for gold at the Paralympics.

Adam and David Knott, of Chandler’s Ford, are competing for Team GB in the Paralympic Goalball squad. Adam, 17, a student at Peter Symonds College , Winchester , said: “We both want to be better than each other, so we really push each other to be the best we can.

“To represent team GB in front of seven and a half thousand people will bring so much pride to myself and my brother.”

David, 15, who attends Thornden School in Chandler’s Ford, said: “We both mainly play in the same position, but at the moment he’s a bit better than me, so he’s normally before me in the team choice.”

The team are training at Peter Symonds, and principal Neil Hopkins said: “The college is very proud of Adam and delighted to have been able to help the GB team.”

Introduced to the Paralympics in 1976, Goalball is an indoor sport for the visually-impaired. Both Adam and David are partially-sighted, caused by a hereditary condition.

The court has the same dimensions as volleyball, with the object being to roll the ball into the opposition’s goal. A close-knit team, the whole squad are staying at the Knott family home. Mum Bridget Knott, 46, said: “It started small then one team member joined them, then another. “It didn’t seem right for Goalball to pay for a hotel so we decided to have them all at our house.” Mrs Knott added: “Words cannot describe our pride in them. “When Adam was born, my husband was quite upset for him that he might not have the sporting enjoyment he had himself. Little did he know!”

The squad will remain in Winchester until they head to Bath for their holding camp with the Paralympics starting this Sunday (August 26). The team is targeting at least the quarter-final stages on September 5.