Richmond, BC — We’re not taking anyone lightly: That was the message sent by the top-seeded teams today during Day One of the 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships. All three top teams—USA, Australia and Canada—boasted decisive victories in their round-robin games, setting the stage for what promises to be the highest-caliber of play the sport has seen so far.
Team Canada kicked the tournament off with a 48—41 victory over Great Britain in front of a sold-out crowd of school children who waved flags and chanted, “Go Canada Go!” Led by hometown favourite and co-captain Ian Chan, Canada used its aggressive man-to-man defense to force the British team to turn the ball over.
“It was a great first win for us against a very quality opponent,” said Canadian Head Coach Kevin Orr. “We felt that GB was one of the strongest teams here at the tournament, so for us to come out with a win was very good for Team Canada.”
The other top teams fared similarly well. Number-one-ranked USA sent a message to its rivals with a 54-37 routing of Germany. Though Germany crept back to within three points late in the first half, they soon struggled to score against the USA’s physical play and fast tempo.
“It was good to win our first game and we’ll go from here,” said American player Chuck Aoki after the game.
Though it took second-seeded Australia a quarter to find an answer for the speed and mobility of rookie player Daisuke Ikezaki of Japan, they too soon found their rhythm and cruised to a 65-52 victory.
The most exciting game of the day, however,w as the faceoff between Sweden and Finland. These teams were evenly matched and fans were treated to a speedy, hard-hitting showdown with both sides trading leads for most of the game. Though Sweden finally claimed a 57-54 victory, local fans were so impressed by Finnish player Leevi Ylönen that they crowded the court to get his autograph after the match.
“It was a good game,” said Swedish team captain Tobias Sandberg. “We came out a little bit nervous but we finished strong. The next game we have is against Great Britain, which is a much stronger team and we’ve got to go out and get them.”
Elsewhere, #12-ranked Argentina lost their first major international game in the team’s history to New Zealand by a score of 62-18. Belgium defeated Poland 51-39.
The 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championship continues on Wednesday 22nd September with the following games:
Court 1 Court 2
9:30 Japan vs. Argentina Australia vs. Poland
12:00 Canada vs. Finland Sweden vs. Great Britain
17:00 Belgium vs. New Zealand Poland vs. Argentina
19:00 Canada vs. Germany USA vs. Great Britain
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.
