Canada Remains Undefeated After Day 2 of the 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships Despite tough games, Canada remains 3- 0 in the tournament.

Richmond, BC.  It was a hard day at the office, but Canada remains
undefeated after three games at the 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby
Championships. Today, Team Canada defeated both Finland and Germany, but neither opponent went down without a battle.

Canada began the day with a hard-won 55-46 victory over the speedy Finnish team before facing off against Team Germany. The Germans are coached by Joe Soares, who famously coached the Canadians in the Academy Award-nominated documentary Murderball. Thanks to Soares inside knowledge and the aggressive play of Maik Baumann, the Germans kept the game close until the fourth quarter. The Canadians, however, relied on experience and team cohesion and slowly pulled away, finishing the game 47-39.

The only chance they had to stay close was to go back in the key and slow the pace of the game, said Canada's Patrice Simard. ³But we found a way to win the game.

But while Canada was able to come back from early struggles, other teams weren¹t so lucky. The first upset of the tournament came when Belgium defeated the New Zealand Wheelblacks by a margin of 53-45. While Belgium came into the tournament ranked fourth, many believed the team would struggle after the loss of a key veteran player. Belgium, however, came out firing on all cylinders and surprised the lackluster Wheelblacks.

There were just too many basic errors for us, conceded New Zealand¹s Jai Waite. We did not execute like we wanted to. A lot of it was just our mistakes, which is disappointing.

Great Britain also lost a one-point heartbreaker to Team Sweden 45-46. After trailing the entire game, Britain rallied to bring the score to within one point only to lose in the final seconds on an errant pass.

Day two of the 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships was also a day of wheelchair rugby firsts. Canada¹s game against Finland marked the first time that three female athletes were on the court at an international event in the history of the sport. Poland also scored its first-ever victory at World Championships with its 65-25 win over Argentina.

Other scores included:
Australia vs. Poland: 54-36.
USA vs. Great Britain: 54-45
Japan vs. Argentina: 84-21

The 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championship continues Thursday, September 23, with the following games:

Court 1 
9:30         New Zealand   vs.   Poland
12:00       USA   vs.   Finland
17:00       Australia   vs.   New Zealand
19:00       Germany   vs.   Great Britain

Court 2 
9:30         Belgium   vs.   Argentina
12:00       Canada   vs.   Sweden
17:00       Belgium   vs.   Japan
19:00       USA   vs.   Sweden

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 ustralia (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. 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, 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