Canada take Metro Cup wheelchair rugby title

“Our goal going in was for both of our teams to place first and second. Unfortunately our development team came in sixth place, but we knew we were capable of winning with our more experienced team.”

Canada Red took the 2013 Metro Cup wheelchair rugby title with an emphatic win over Great Britain’s A squad on Sunday (30 June) in Warsaw, Poland.

Canada Red went through the entire tournament undefeated and capped it off with a convincing 57-45 victory in the final.

These two nations fielded two teams during the tournament, but both Canada Black and Great Britain B missed the semi-final stage and were forced to play for fifth and sixth place.

Great Britain B managed to register a 59-38 victory in that game to secure fifth place.

In the bronze-medal match, host nation Poland took on Germany and the two didn’t disappoint.

Poland fought off a strong German outfit to run out 48-43 winners in front of their home fans.

The seventh and eighth place playoff between Brazil and the Czech Republic was the tightest match of the final day.

Both teams exchanged the lead throughout the match but the Czech Republic were able to hold their nerve for a thrilling 49-45 victory over the South Americans.

Canada Red’s most valuable player Zak Madell was very pleased with the effort shown by the players across the three days of competition.

“Our goal going in was for both of our teams to place first and second. Unfortunately our development team came in sixth place, but we knew we were capable of winning with our more experienced team,” Madell said.

“We did not split our teams evenly, but the fact that our development team was able to beat other national teams gives us a sneak peek of what we can expect in the future.”

Good preparation for each match proved to be the key to success for Canada Red in the Metro Cup.

The Canadian star on the rise also was impressed with how far South American No. 1 Brazil had come since they last played.

“I have not seen Brazil play for almost two years, and seeing the progress they have made, makes me believe that they could be a strong competitor at the 2016 Games that they will be hosting,” he said.

Canada, along with all of the other nations in the Americas will now turn their attention to the zonal qualifiers in Birmingham, Alabama in the USA in October, where World Championship qualification is at stake.

Ales Kisy from the Czech Republic was rewarded the Most Valuable Player award for the tournament, an amazing effort considering his team placed seventh in the final standings.

Madell was rewarded for his excellent tournament as he featured in the all tournament team listed below:

Best 0.5: Muhammed Islam (Great Britain B)

Best 1.0-1.5: Bulbul Hussein (Great Britain A)

Best 2.0-2.5: Alan Ash (Great Britain B)

Best 3.0-3.5: Zak Madell (Canada Red)