Canada Loses in Last Ditch Effort to Make the Medal Round
Semi-Finals now set for the 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships
Richmond, BC In a passionately fought game against the US, the host
country lost a close but heartbreaking 48-49 round-robin game to the United States narrowly missing a place in the semi-finals.
Canada came out charging from the start, crashing and banging their way to an 11-all tie after one quarter and pulling away with a 24-21 halftime lead. The crowd was boisterous, chanting throughout trying to will their team to victory.
Canadian Fabien Lavoie powered his way through defenses like a hot knife through butter throughout the game consistently opening up the court for his teammates. But the Americans were patient and capitalized on some costly errors for Canada near the end of the third quarter. With a minute and a half left in the third quarter, USA pulled within one and then tied it on a turnover less than 30 seconds later. Canada had a slim one point lead going into the fourth quarter 37-36.
Canadian Patrice Simard stole the fourth quarter inbound pass of the
Americans to quickly set the pace for the Canadians 38-36. But Will Groulx of the United States quietly kept the US in the game with several breakaway goals.
With less than a minute left, Richmond¹s Ian Chan was charged with a foul giving the Americans the man advantage. The US took their first lead of the game (49-48) with 2.7 seconds left in the game and the Canadians couldn¹t do anything with Garett Hicklings¹ last gasp desperation pass up the court.
We got our lead by playing intense defense and we put everything out on the court and that's really all we ask of the guys, is to leave everything out
there, said Canadian Head Coach Kevin Orr. We have to credit the United States for what they did. They used their lines as well but when it came down to the end we just didn't have anything left in the tank.
In another important match of the day, Japan settled its own fate with a
close 51-50 win over Poland which booked their ticket into the semi-finals. Earlier in the day they defeated New Zealand 56-47.
It was very exciting, said Japan Team player Shin Shimakawa. I thought
that my heart would stop! We never gave up. We thought it might be a close game but it was more than what we thought.
In other matches today, Australia joined the US as the only other undefeated team in round robin play with wins over Belgium (66-41) and Argentina (69-24). Sweden defeated Germany 51-41; Great Britain took Finland 51-43; and Germany got its first win of the tournament with a 49-47 final over Finland.
The semi-finals are now set. Australia will play Sweden while Japan takes on the Americans. It will be the first time Japan will be in a semi-final at a
world championship. In the recent 2010 Canada Cup held in Montreal, Japan won their first ever international medal with a bronze.
Play continues Saturday at the Richmond Olympic Oval at 10:00 a.m. with Canada playing Poland at noon in a game that will decide the cross over for 5th and 6th. Semi-finals begin at 2:00 p.m. All games can be watched at www.sportscanada.tv.
Photographs of today's games are available at
http://www.2010wwrc.com/media/media-kit. Please credit BC Wheelchair Sports Association (BCWSA)/Kevin Bogetti-Smith.
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About wheelchair rugby
Wheelchair rugby is a team sport for male and female quadriplegics. The
physically demanding full-contact team sport is played indoors on a hardwood basketball court between two teams of four players. It is a unique sport that combines some elements of basketball, handball, and ice hockey, and was created in Canada in1977 by a group of athletes with a disability in Manitoba.
About the 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships
The 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships are taking place at the Richmond Olympic Oval from September 21-26. The tournament will feature teams from 12 countries, including Canada (2002 World Champions), New Zealand (2004 Paralympic Champions), USA (2008 Paralympic Champions) and Australia (2010 Coupe Canada Cup holders). Also competing are Japan, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Great Britain, Poland, Finland and Argentina.
For the full competition schedule, visit www.2010wwrc.com
<http://www.2010wwrc.com> . Tickets will be available at the door. You can also follow the tournament on Twitter: @2010wwrc, Facebook "2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships," and at www.sportscanada.tv <http://www.sportscanada.tv> , where games and athlete interviews will be webcast live.
Media Contacts
Anna Parisi 604-828-2875 aparisi@telus.net
Mital Shamji 778.919.5975 mital.shamji@gmail.com
FLASH QUOTES
September 24, 2010
AUS 66 BEL 41
Australia Team Player Ryan Scott (#11):
We¹ve taken our momentum into every game. We normally start slow but this tournament we¹ve broken those normal traditions and we¹ve controlled a lot of the game from start to finish.
Belgium Team player Ronald Verhaegen (#9):
We knew it was going to be the hardest game in our pool but we had to try. We were confident. We were going for it. But from the first minute we saw the pressure was very big for Australia.
With the small squad we have players got very tired and so it got tougher
and tougher for us. Australia is just stronger than us. We have to admit
that. But if you are a sportsman you always have to play like you have a
chance.
JPN 56 NZL 47
New Zealand Team Player Cameron Leslie (#1):
We would have liked to have pushed them a little bit more.
We were expecting to do a lot more than this. But the huge positive is that we've all stuck together as a team. We haven¹t turned on each other. We've got a good bunch of guys, a good mix of old and young. I think some of the older guys have learned from past experience what not to do.
Japan Team player Shin Shimakawa (#13):
It was a good game. We are doing well because we are all one as a team. When we think we can beat a team easily we lose, so we don¹t think that way.
SWE 41 GER 31
Sweden Team player Andreas Collin (#14):
It was a good win. We planned to stick to the plan we had and to destroy them.
Germany Team player Andrej Leonhard (#8):
We were trying some different line ups and we were rushing a little and got out of mental control and that¹s why we lost.
The team spirit is pretty good right now. After a loss our heads are down
but the chemistry of the team is pretty good. We are happy to have our new coach and are going forward.
JPN 51 POL 50
Japan Team player Shin Shimakawa (#13):
It was very exciting. I thought that my heart would stop! We never gave up. We thought it might be a close game but it was more than what we thought.
Poland Team player Rafal Rocki (#7):
It was a very hard, very tight game. We could have won this game. We have some disappointment because we led almost the whole game.
We can say also that we are surprised we played so well. It was one of our best games ever. We have very good chemistry in the team.
AUS 69 ARG 24
Argentina Team player Ignacio Rizzi (#8):
We tried to do our best but with Australia it is hard to do.
It is like a dream for us to be here. It is all new for us. We are learning
a lot. When we brought wheelchair rugby to Argentina we never dreamed that
in five years we would be here.
Australia Team Player Joshua Hose (#4):
We gave Riley a bit of a rest and gave some of the subs a bit of experience.
We¹re going to prepare for tomorrow like we have for every game at this
event. We¹ll do the simple things right and hopefully win it.
USA 49 CAN 48
Canada Head Coach Kevin Orr:
We got our lead by playing intense defense and we put everything out on the court and that's really all we ask the guys, is to leave everything out
there. We rotated our lines like we did. And the guys when they use that
much energy they run out of gas. We have to credit the United States for
what they did. They used their lines as well but when it came down to the
end we just didn't have anything left in the tank. I really have to take our
hats off to our guys for the work they did on the court.
We've got to learn how to win. That's one of the things that you find the
will to win when it counts. We're building this program for the London
Paralympics. We would have liked to win a world championship here on our home soil but the big picture is that we're really trying to win a gold
medal at the paralympic games. With the effort we had tonight we're well on our way.
Canadian co-Captain Ian Chan (#6):
A very tough loss. Obviously I am very disappointed in the way it turned out in the end especially with myself having the ball and turning it over in the dying seconds of the game. But all in all I'm very proud of the way the guys competed. We've just got to move on and turn the channel tomorrow because we've still got to play.
It could have gone the other way and it was a very hard fought game. We squandered a lead going into the 3rd and 4th quarter. Obviously that's really tough to take right now.
USA player Will Groulx (#10)
It was a great team win for us. This game like a lot of games is about
momentum.
It was a huge benefit to have the time out at the end. We always say we
never want to take them home with us but having that one at the end was
huge.
It's always a pleasure to play in front of a good crowd.
