British-American Rivalry Heats Up in Manchester

USA's Joe Chambers takes control of the ball against Great Britain. © • IPC Clare Strange fights for the ball against Australia in Manchester. © • IPC

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Brazil and USA Win Big at BT Paralympic World Cup

Brazil and USA Win Big at BT Paralympic World Cup

“We knew we had to come out and show everybody what we could do so when we go into the Paralympics we can be ready and even quicker than we were today.”

The third day of the BT Paralympic World Cup in Manchester on Thursday (24 May) renewed a rivalry between Great Britain and USA in both Football 7-a-Side and Wheelchair Basketball.

Great Britain’s Football 7-a-Side team dominated USA in a 7-0 victory on its home pitch, and just a couple of hours later the Americans responded as their men’s Wheelchair Basketball squad took a commanding 70-40 win over the British.

The host nation’s 7-a-Side team started out the day meeting England’s able-bodied football team at its pre-European Championships training base at the Manchester City grounds, where England’s new manager Roy Hodgson gave them extra motivation to take on the Americans.

“We just wanted to ask them a couple of questions – what the players go for as a team, what inspires them as a team and it gave us a big hope for today’s game,” said George Fletcher, who went on to record a hat trick in the win.

“It shocked me that it showed that we are doing as much as we can as a team as they are as a team.”

Ibrahima Diallo added a pair of goals, and Michael Barker and Alistair-Patrick Heselton each netted a score to blow out the visiting team as Billy Thompson kept the shutout in the net.

The British squad is eager to reach the podium both in Manchester and London this year.

“We want to show the world what we can do,” Fletcher said. “We knew we had to come out and show everybody what we could do so when we go into the Paralympics we can be ready and even quicker than we were today.”

On the Wheelchair Basketball court, USA’s 30-point win over Great Britain can be credited to top efforts from Josh Turek, Joe Chambers and Steve Serio.

Turek had 13 points and 12 rebounds, Chambers had 13 points and five rebounds and Serio had 11 points and five rebounds.

The Americans were out for revenge, keeping in mind they lost to the British in the bronze-medal game at the Beijing 2008 Paralympics.

“I think whenever you play for USA, it’s gold or bust,” Tuerk said.

“We played really well today. It was one of those games where shots were falling, guys were scoring from the inside and outside. With this level of athleticism and talent that you have here, Great Britain could have very well done that to us, it’s just a matter of who’s hitting shots.”

USA had 28 points in the paint and 25 points off the bench, with many of those coming from Serio. Ian Sagar’s seven-point effort lead Great Britain.

“It was a really good team win and we got contributions from a lot of people,” Serio said. “Both teams are preparing for London, so this was a good win for us, but there’s still tomorrow, so you never know.”

Earlier in the day, Germany beat Japan 63-49 thanks to an 18-point performance from Andre Bienek, who has set high standards for his team in 2012.

“We wanted to just make a statement. I think we did that to a certain point, but we definitely have a lot of stuff to improve on,” Bienek said, then referring to how young of a team Germany will have at the Paralympics.

In the women’s Wheelchair Basketball competition, Australia defeated Great Britain, 43-25, behind 26 points from Cobi Crispin, leaving the host nation winless in Manchester thus far.

“We played some really solid defensive and that’s what we’ve been working on, and it led to some really solid offense,” Crispin said.

Germany’s women’s team came out in full force, beating two-time defending Paralympic champions USA, 51-39. Annika Zeyen led the charge for Germany with 12 points and Edna Muller chipped in 11.

Becca Murray once again led USA with 14 points.

In the other Football 7-a-Side contest, Brazil easily defeated Ireland, 5-0, to remain undefeated in Manchester. Jose Guimaraes, Mateus Calvo, Wanderson Oliveira, Emanoel Oliveira and Fabio Bordignon all recorded goals for the winning side.

The day also included a friendly international Boccia match between Great Britain and the Czech Republic. The host nation’s Steven McGuire defeated Leos Lancina and then his brother Peter drew with Radec Prochaska before the siblings defeated the duo 7-1 in the pairs competition.