German women take title

“It was fantastic playing here. I have never played before such a big crowd before, and to beat the gold medal winners from Beijing is just amazing.”

Germany claimed gold medal glory in the women’s wheelchair basketball after seeing off Australia, 58-44, at the North Greenwich Arena on Friday (7 September).

The Beijing 2008 silver medallists were too good for the Aussies, who left themselves with too much to do after a poor start saw Germany establish a 26-19 halftime lead.

There were some German nerves when Australia rallied from 30-19 to narrow the gap to 32-28 towards the end of the third quarter, but the Europeans held firm thanks in part to Mareike Adermann’s 19-point haul.

Cobi Crispin got the first points of the game, pushing Australia ahead after 67 seconds and on their way to a 10-4 advantage midway through the first quarter.

However, Germany fought back with 10 unanswered points to lead 14-10 at the end of the first period.

And the Germans pulled further clear during a physical second quarter that saw numerous players upended.

Adermann, Annika Zeyen and captain Marina Mohnen all finished the first half with eight points each as Germany demonstrated their strength across the court to lead by seven points at the interval.

And despite brave Australia’s best efforts, Germany never relinquished their advantage during a tense second half to secure a memorable triumph.

Earlier Holland, cheered on by the vocal crowd, stunned the USA with a clinical and comprehensive 71-47 victory in the bronze medal match.

The Dutch pulled clear during the middle quarters. They tied the first quarter 16-16 and won the final quarter 11-10, but they were red hot either side of half time.

Inge Huitzing (26 points) and Mariska Beijer (27 points) were the main factors behind Holland winning the second quarter 22-8 and the third quarter 22-13.

Holland landed 48 per cent of their goal attempts, compared to USA’s 43 per cent, and were deserved winners.

Beijer said: “I was really excited at the beginning of the tournament and now as bronze medal winners I am so, so excited.

“It was fantastic playing here. I have never played before such a big crowd before, and to beat the gold medal winners from Beijing is just amazing.”

Fu Yongqing and Long Yun combined to collect 49 points as China claimed fifth place by winning 73-70 against Canada.

China, who finished seventh in Beijing 2008, were inspired by Fu (25 points) and Long (10 points in the fourth quarter).

Hosts Great Britain avoided an eighth-placed finish by beating Mexico 59-37, with Amy Conroy’s 22-point contribution giving her side a comfortable win.

Mexico were 19-18 up at halftime, but Britain produced a devastating 22-4 run over a seven-minute spell to take the match away from their opponents.

In the men’s competition, Spain captain Diego De Paz Pazo held his nerve to give his side a dramatic win against Turkey in a crossover classification match.

Turkey trailed 68-63 with less than two minutes of normal time remaining, only to force the game into overtime after pulling back five unanswered points in the closing seconds.

Murat Arslanoglu almost won it for Turkey, but his shot fell off-target in the last second and Spain pulled clear – thanks largely to De Paz Pazo’s efforts – to record an 86-78 triumph in the added five minutes.

Germany’s men’s team will get the chance to equal their fifth-place finish at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games after defeating Poland 81-66 in the other crossover classification match on Friday (7 September).

Dirk Passiwan (30 points) and Andre Bienek (20 points) both excelled for the Germans.