PARALYMPIC WORLD CUP
Dates: 7-11 May Venue: Manchester
Coverage: Daily reports and photos on the BBC Sport website. Coverage on BBC Two from 1600-1745 Sunday

By Ade Adepitan

I always remember that special feeling when I woke up on the first day of a Paralympic year.

It is the moment when you look ahead to a year that could potentially change your life. It is also a year where you only get a few opportunities to get it right.

That's why the Paralympic World Cup has become a crucial competition for Paralympians all over the world, especially with Beijing 2008 lurking in the background.

Since its inaugural event in 2005, the basketball tournament has proved to be a success, giving the world's major powerhouses a chance to flex their muscles, as well their spokes.

The event will always hold many fond memories for me for many reasons. Our victory in the first final after Terry Bywater's last-second Hail Mary hook shot from the halfway line sent the game into overtime, followed by my last-ever shot in a GB vest to win the tournament.

Adepitan celebrates victory over the USA

It makes it easy to see why I love the Paralympic World Cup so much.

The Great Britain men's team seems to be going through a staggered transition phase, which has thrown up some difficult selection conundrums for coach Murray Treseder.

How many new players will he bring into the team with 2012 just around the corner?

What about the forward position - who will he bring in to support and provide respite for the ever-reliable Simon Munn?

This tournament will provide the perfect opportunity for a number of GB players to get it right, and secure their place in the team that will be going to Beijing.

Players like Simon Brown and Peter Finbow will be keen to impress in the guard position as well as Dan Highcock, while Ian Sager and Joe Bestwick will be striving to prove their dominance in the forward position.

All of these questions make this year's competition an important and very intriguing prospect.

When you also add current European champions Sweden, who beat GB to win the title, an up-and-coming German team and then sprinkle in the USA - arguably the most successful wheelchair basketball nation of all time - you have the ingredients for a very exciting tournament.

I'm looking forward to seeing some strong performances from the GB women Ade Adepitan

Love them or hate them, the US, with their unique brand of brash exuberance, usually deliver an abundance of excitement and drama to any tournament, especially when they clash with GB.

Since Sydney 2000, GB have played USA six times in major competition with the series tied at three games each.

The quarter-final loss to GB in Athens 2004, which led to the US leaving a Paralympics without a medal for the first time in their history, is still painfully etched in the memory of many of their players.

The most important point about this year's Paralympic World Cup is that it will give the men's and women's teams a chance to gauge their possible opponents in Beijing later this year and that is the beauty of this event - top-class competition outside the major tournaments is rare, especially in the women's game.

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So the next few days will prove invaluable for GB women's coach Garry Peel and his team as they continue their preparation for Beijing.

The much improved European bronze medallists will be looking to go at least one step further than last year, where they lost to a powerful French team in the 3rd and 4th game play-off.

With a subtle blend of young and experienced players, I'm looking forward to seeing some strong performances from the GB women.

The wily veteran play of Ann Wild, coupled with the steady leadership of Clare Strange and the dynamic on-court presence of Sally Wager, should make them a tough team to beat.

Watch out too for Helen Freeman, who will be rolling on to a plane from Turkey to Manchester fresh from the European Junior Championships.

Along with Louise Sugden and Pauline McDonald she will be a key player for GB now and in the future.

Ade Adepitan will be part of the BBC Sport team at the Paralympic World Cup in Manchester. There will be coverage of the event on BBC Two on Sunday 11 May from 1600-1745 BST.