Eight wheelchair rugby teams listed for Canada Cup

“We’re excited to once again bring world-class wheelchair rugby to the Richmond Olympic Oval and to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Canada Cup. We’re confident that this year’s Canada Cup will be the best one yet.”

BC Wheelchair Sports Association formally announced the list of eight teams attending the 2014 Canada Cup international wheelchair rugby tournament.

The Canada Cup, which is considered one of the most prestigious wheelchair rugby tournaments in the world, will take place from 19-21 June at the Richmond Olympic Oval in Richmond, British Columbia.

The teams attending will be: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland and Sweden.

“We’re excited to once again bring world-class wheelchair rugby to the Richmond Olympic Oval and to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Canada Cup,” said BCWSA Executive Director Gail Hamamoto. “We’re confident that this year’s Canada Cup will be the best one yet.”

For the first time, the results at Canada Cup will impact the world rankings leading into August’s IWRF World Wheelchair Rugby Championships, so teams have an extra incentive to bring their best performances. Host nation Canada are currently ranked No. 3 in the world and will seek to improve their seeding at a tournament that also includes London 2012 Paralympic champions Australia.

Australia are currently No. 2 in the world behind the USA. Sweden, Japan, Denmark and Great Britain make up the No. 4 through No. 7 spots, in said order in the world rankings. New Zealand sit at No. 10 and Switzerland are No. 13.

The Canada Cup was initially created in 2004 to provide an elite wheelchair rugby competition outside of the World Championships or Paralympic Games and has been held biennially ever since. This year’s Canada Cup is being generously supported by the Canadian government and the province of British Columbia.