Wheelchair rugby semi-finals delight

“The idea is that you have to fight to win the game and in the closing stages, that is what my guys did. It was beautiful.”

Canada produced one of the most memorable wheelchair rugby performances ever to defeat arch-rivals USA, 50-49, in the semi-final at London 2012 on Saturday (8 September).

Veteran Garrett Hickling crossed the line with less than half a second to go in a thrilling finale at the Basketball Arena.

The Canadians looked in control as they cruised to a 16-9 lead at the end of the first quarter against the Beijing gold medallists.

However, this advantage was cut to five points at half-time following a good second period by the USA.

It was the Americans that came out strongest in the second half and the gap was closed to a single point on a number of occasions as Canada struggled to cope with the pressure.

The Canadian advantage was closed even further and with the final quarter to play, just a solitary point separated the two sides.

The USA equalled the score at 48 apiece, the first time that the Canadians didn’t lead the encounter since tip-off, with just over a minute and a half remaining.

Canadian coach Kevin Orr turned to Garrett Hickling’s experience to provide the goods in the dying moments of the game, following an error by USA’s Chuck Aoki.

“We had the game plan to attack them early on and it paid off,” Orr said.

“We did that, but then started to play conservative which was when they started to come back at us.

“The idea is that you have to fight to win the game and in the closing stages, that is what my guys did. It was beautiful.”

Hickling and Zak Madell continued to be decisive when it was needed, with Madell being clinical in the early stages of the game in particular.

Canada will meet Australia in the gold-medal game on Sunday (9 September) after they defeated Japan 59-45 in the other semi-final.

Ryley Batt continued his impressive tournament with another 27 goals, taking his tally to 124 in just four matches.

Naz Erdem, also played an important role for the Australians, allowing Ryley Batt and Chris Bond to team up on the field at important times.

“Japan are one of the strongest competitions in the tournament, so to win by such a good margin today was unbelievable,” Erdem said.

“The last time we played them, we beat them by one in triple overtime.

“It just shows that all our work is paying off.”

Also on the penultimate day of wheelchair rugby action, places 5-8 were decided between the four participating European nations.

Great Britain beat Sweden 59-47 to decide the 5th and 6th places whereas Belgium defeated France 54-50 in the 7th and 8th place match.