There are some impressive new photos posted to the Gallery section of the World Championships web site, with a great deal of Canadian content.

Check it out at the World Championships photo link in the column to your left, or directly at the link above.

~Don~

The All-Tournament Team has been announced at the 2002 Wheelchair Rugby World Championships, and here it is:

0.5     Eddie CROUCH     (USA)     and     Koen DELEN     (BEL)
1.0     Norm LYDUCH     (USA)
1.5     Ronny VERHAEGEN     (BEL)
2.0     Bryan KIRKLAND     (USA)
2.5     Satoshi ITO     (JAP)
3.0     Mike GILLILAND     (USA)
3.5     Steve PATE     (USA)

Most Valuable Player (MVP)     Garett HICKLING     (CAN)

2002 Wheelchair Rugby World Champions — Team Canada

(From left to right:)  Adam Frost (2.5), Daniel Paradis (0.5), Al Semeniuk (2.0), Dany Bélanger (0.5), Marco Dispaltro (Team Manager), David Willsie (Co-Captain & 2.0), Joe Soares (Head Coach), Garett "The Warrior" Hickling (Co-Captain, 3.5, & World Championships MVP), Mike "Shake & Quake" Whitehead (3.0), Benoit Labrecque (Assistant Coach), Ian Chan (3.0), Dave Gagné (1.5), Patrice "Dude" Simard (1.5), Mike Bacon (1.0), and Daryl Stubel (2.0).  Back row behind flag: Jennifer Cadieux (Medical), Cathy Cadieux (Team Leader), and Stéphan Charbonneau (Equipment Manager).

3rd IWRF Wheelchair Rugby World Championships – Player Ranking – Goals (unofficial)

 #   Team   Athlete   Class   Goals Scored
 1.    JAP   ITO, Satoshi   (2.5)   110
 2.    AUT   STROBLMAIR, Markus   (2.5)   101
 3.    GBR   LILLEY, John   (3.5)   96
 4.    AUS   DUBBERLEY, Brad   (3.5)   94
 5.    GER   LEONHARD, André   (2.0)   93
 6.    SWI   DIENER, Luzius   (2.5)   88
 7.    BEL   BUDENERS, Ludwig   (3.0)   83
 8.    JAP   SHIMAKAWA, Shinichi   (3.0)   83
 9.    SWE   KULLE, Pelle   (2.0)   74
10.   BEL   VERHAEGEN, Ronny   (1.5)   74
11.   GBR   COLLINS, Troye   (2.5)   73
12.   NED   WEIJGERTZE, Jean-Paul   (1.5)   71
13.   NED   HERIJGERS, Ronald   (2.5)   67
14.   BEL   VANACKER, Bob   (2.5)   67
15.   NZL   PALMER, Curtis   (2.5)   64
16.   AUS   PORTER, Steve   (2.5)   63
17.   NED   AANTJES, André   (3.0)   61
18.   SWI   SONDERER, Cornel   (3.5)   60
19.   NZL   TINKER, Geremy   (2.0)   58
20.   USA   PATE, Steve   (3.5)   56

3rd IWRF Wheelchair Rugby World Championships – Player Ranking – Penalties (unofficial)

 #   Team   Athlete   Class   Penalties
 1.    BEL    BUDENERS, Ludwig   (3.0)   18
 2.    CAN   WILLSIE, David   (2.0)   16
 3.    SWI   SUTER, Roger   (1.0)   10
 4.    NZL   PALMER, Curtis   (2.5)   9
 4.    AUT   STROBLMAIR, Markus   (2.5)   9
 6.    SWI   DIENER, Luzius   (2.5)   8
 6.    SWE   KULLE, Pelle   (2.0)   8
 8.    NED   AANTJES, André   (3.0)   7
 8.    GBR   COLLINS, Troye   (2.5)   7
 8.    SWE   ERIKSSON, Thomas   (3.0)   7
 8.    USA   PATE, Steve   (3.5)   7
12.   CAN   HICKLING, Garett   (3.5)   6
12.   SWE   NILSSON, Jesper   (2.0)   6
12.   AUT   SCHMEISSER, Edouard   (0.5)   6
15.   AUS   BOYLAN, Brett   (2.0)   5
15.   NED   HERIJGERS, Ronald   (2.5)   5
15.   GER   JANSSEN, Bernd   (3.0)   5
15.   USA   KIRKLAND, Bryan   (2.0)   5
15.   BEL   VANACKER, Bob   (2.5)   5
15.   NED   WEIJGERTZE, Jean-Paul   (1.5)   5
15.   USA   ZUPAN, Mark   (3.0)   5

These stats include the results the pool round as well as the results of the two final games played in the crossover and medal/position games.

I just got off the phone with a jubilant group of athletes.  It was nice to hear from them, and their shouts of joy made it sound as if I were there.

A few of the team members played through injuries in this final game.  Co-captain Garett "Gee" Hickling was in the hospital this morning until 5am with our team medical staff.  He had received a vicious one-two hit from two of the American wrecking crew heavy hitters (Pate and and Kirkland) in the final two seconds of the first Canada–USA game and did a face plant into the floor, saving himself with his hands, but damaging one of his wrists in the process.  Hickling had just scored the game winning goal.

Mike "Head" Bacon (1.0), who got injured in the final game of the Canadian National Championships, and re-aggravated that same injury at the Worlds, played through that injury and a tendonitis problem.

Here are a few quotes from the World Champions:

(2.0) Co-captain David Willsie, London, ON: "We came here to do a job.  Mission accomplished!"

(0.5) Daniel Paradis, Québec, QC: "We invented this game, and now we've brought it home!"

(3.0) Mike "Quake" Whitehead, London, ON: "The bar has been set for us rookies.  Now we will have to live up to it!"

(3.0) Ian "Winks" Chan, Richmond, BC: Canada's #1, baby!"

(0.5) Dany Bélanger, Montréal, QC: "That was the most wonderful game I've ever seen in my life!"

(2.0) Allan Semeniuk, Saskatoon, SK: "Canada rocks the house!"

Team Manager, Marco Dispaltro, St-Jérôme, QC: "We came, we saw, we kicked US ass!"

We are so proud of them.  It's now time for them to enjoy themselves.  The last one of them has just left doping control, so they're on their way back to the hotel.

Final Results:

1.   CANADA (originally seeded 4th)
2.   United States (originally seeded 1st)
3.   Australia (originally seeded 2nd)
4.   Belgium (originally seeded 10th)
5.   Great Britain (originally seeded 6th)
6.   New Zealand (originally seeded 3rd)
7.   Sweden (originally seeded 5th)
8.   Japan (originally seeded 9th)
9.   Germany (originally seeded 7th)
10. The Netherlands (originally seeded 11th)
11. Switzerland (originally seeded 8th)
12. Austria (originally seeded 12th)

CANADA EARNS GOLD IN SWEDEN

It's over, and the Canadian Team are the World Champions in Wheelchair Rugby!

Team Canada met the world's #1 ranked team on the court today in Gothenburg, and upset the defending World and Paralympic champions from the United States by a score of 25-24!

   vs.   

There was a competition prior to these World Championships for those teams that did not qualify for the World Championships.  Perhaps a little bit of foreshadowing was done, when the red and white team from Poland earned top honours at the warmup tournament, which also saw competing teams from Denmark, Finland, and Ireland, along with some development teams from Sweden.

The colours of their country on their bandanas, the red and white Canadians took it to the tournament favorites and ended each of the first three quarters locked in a tie.  At the end of the 1st Quarter, the game was tied at 4.  Defense was the name of the game which had the evenly stacked teams tied at 10 at the Half.  After another period of action, and another three penalties apiece, the crowd watched the teams trade goals until they were locked at 17 each.

In the final quarter of the game, Canada upped the ante, and co-captain David Willsie from London, Ontario scored the winner, earning Canada it's first ever World Championships in wheelchair rugby.  Scorers for the Canadians included:

Garett Hickling (3.5) - 9 goals
Al Semeniuk (2.0) - 8 goals
David Willsie (2.0) - 6 goals
Ian Chan (3.0) - 2 goals

It looks like the Americans tried out their "Wrecking Crew" again against us, as Steve Pate (3.5) and Bryan Kirkland (2.0) combined for 17 of the American goals, along with a couple of their penalties, the remainder of which were assessed to their line mates.

More news to follow as information becomes available...

The Canadians will soon be on the court in Gothenburg, but already today, several games have taken place.

   vs.   

Switzerland beat Austria by a score of 45-42 to earn 11th spot. Although the Austrians came on strong in the 4th quarter, it was not enough to get by the determined Swiss, who had a 5 point lead going in to the final quarter.



   vs.   

Germany took 9th place by defeating Holland by a comfortable 42-35 score.  Most of the scoring was done by André Leonhard (2.0) and Bernd Janssen, who combined for 29 of their teams points.



   vs.   

Sweden, the popular host team, squeaked by the speedy Japanese by a single goal, 32-31, despite the best efforts of a determined Japanese team, which is only going to improve in the years to come.  Sweden drops two spots on the IWRF World Ranking, and the Japanese move up a notch.



   vs.   

In the match against the best teams who were out of the medal race, the mighty Kiwis met the vastly improved Brits, who had already defeated them in their earlier pool game on Day 2 of the World Championships.  The Brits came out strong in the first quarter, with a 10-5 lead, and continued their domination of the Paralympic Games bronze medallists.  The final score showed the skill of the Brits in this game, as they coasted to a 37-26 victory, and secured 5th place.  John Lilley led the British team with 13 goals.


Bronze Medal Game:

   vs.   

Not many details are available at this time aside from the score.  The Aussies are the bronze medallists at these 3rd IWRF World Championships, defeating the surprising Belgians 45-38.

Final Results:

3.   Australia (originally seeded 2nd)
4.   Belgium (originally seeded 10th)
5.   Great Britain (originally seeded 6th)
6.   New Zealand (originally seeded 3rd)
7.   Sweden (originally seeded 5th)
8.   Japan (originally seeded 9th)
9.   Germany (originally seeded 7th)
10. The Netherlands (originally seeded 11th)
11. Switzerland (originally seeded 8th)
12. Austria (originally seeded 12th)

It was a nail-biter of a game today for the Canadian fans watching the BEL vs. CAN game which decided which of these two worthy teams would make it to the final, and which team would be competing for bronze on Sunday.

The Canadians came out a bit flat, and the Belgians held a 3-point lead at one time in the game.  Canada went with it's top line as well as a 3–2–2–1 and a 3.5–3–1–0.5 lineup.  Another lineup included Patrice Simard (1.5) who looked particularly sharp and was an impact player in this game.  Joining him as a 1.5 was former 1.0 Dave Gagné of Québec City, who was reclassified at these World Championships after a classification protest was filed, and eventually upheld.  Joining Gagné on the reclassified athlete list was the aforementioned leading scorer of the tournament, Satoshi Ito from Japan, who went from a 2.0 to 2.5, and Manfred Bolliger from Switzerland, who took a big jump from 2.5 to 3.5.

Belgium played a tough game and were well coached.  At the end of the 3rd quarter, the score was tied.  We then went up by 1 and then a costly turnover doubled the margin in favour of Team Canada, which kept control of the ball for most of the remaining part of the game, eventually winning by that 2 goal margin, 31-29.  Belgium looked like they had run out of steam towards the end of the game, as the size of their team is the smallest at the World Championships.  The team is now preparing for the final against the USA, who looked particularly invigorated in their game against the Australians. 

Sunday 2 JUNE - Final Games: (with the pre-tournament ranking in parentheses)

09.00 - 11th Place:   Switzerland (#8) vs. Austria (#12)
10.00 - 9th Place:   The Netherlands (#11) vs. Germany (#7)
11.00 - 7th Place   Sweden (#5) vs. Japan (#9)
12.00 - 5th Place   New Zealand (#3) vs. Great Britain (#6)
14.00 - 3rd Place   Australia (#2) vs. Belgium (#10)
16.00 - GOLD MEDAL GAME:   Canada (#4) vs. The United States (#1)

Canada and the USA have met before in finals at international competitions, with the Americans winning every time:

July 1990 - World Stoke Mandeville Games - Ailesbury, England
October 1995 - 1st Wheelchair Rugby World Championships - Notwil, Switzerland
August 1996 - Paralympic Games - Atlanta, GA, United States

Tomorrow will decide if history repeats itself, or if the strongly improved Canadians can continue their undefeated streak at these 2002 World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden.

It is worthy to note that after all 5 pool games, none of the team members of either the Canadian or American teams were amongst the top-10 or either the top-15 tournament scorers.  Team Canada meets the USA in the finals of the Wheelchair Rugby World Championships tomorrow.

The closest that any North American got to the top of the scoring list was Team USA's 2.0 Bryan Kirkland, from the Lakeshore Demolition, whose 40 goals earned him 19th spot on the scoring list, with Canada's 3.5 Garett Hickling next on the list with his 39 goals.  Perhaps it points out the depth of both teams, and the teamwork that is necessary to succeed in this sport.

Japan's speedy 2.5 Satshi Ito was the top scorer after the round of pools, with 83 goals, followed by Austria's 2.5 Markus Stroblmair with 71, and the British 3.5 (?) John Lilley with 69.  Ito seems to have been classed up from a Deuce to a 2.5, as he is listed on the original list as a 2.0.

Top 10 scorers after the round of pools: (unofficial)

1. JAP ITO, Satoshi   (2.5)   83
2. AUT STROBLMAIR, Markus   (2.5)   71
3. GBR LILLEY, John   (3.5)   69
4. BEL BUDENERS, Ludwig   (3.0)   61
5. AUS DUBBERLEY, Brad   (3.5)   59
6. GER LEONHARD, André   (2.0)   59
7. BEL VERHAEGEN, Ronny    (1.5)   57
8. JAP SHIMAKAWA, Shinichi   (3.0)   55
9. SWE KULLE, Pelle   (2.0)   53
10. BEL VANACKER, Bob   (2.5)   51

The results of today's crossover games decide who plays for medals, and who plays for positions.

The #7 seeded Germans got past the #12 ranked Austrians by a 5 point margin, 41-36, earning them the right to play Holland, who upset the #8 seeded Swiss by a comfortable margin, 42-32.  Germany meets Holland tomorrow in a game to decide 9th place, while Austria and Switzerland compete for 11th spot.

The home team from Sweden then met the Kiwis, in a game that meant a lot to both teams.  The Kiwis went in to the tournament seeded 3rd, while the host team was 5th. Neither expected to meet here in this game, but both teams were hungry for the taste of victory.

Edited from the WC web site:

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The Swedish started the line-up of Kulle (2.0), Nilsson (2.0), Josefsson (1.0) and Engblom (3.0), who seemed hungry for revenge.  They played steadily and aggressive and Engblom made an excellent score, two minutes into the 1st period, followed by an equally brilliant goal made by Nilsson.  The New Zealanders soon gained the goals back and that was how it went on for another period.

The Swedish coach decided to change his line-up halfway through the 2nd period and out goes Engblom and Nilsson and in comes Eriksson (3.0) and Mattsson (2.0), bursting with energy.  The game got more intense at that point and the second period ended in favour for team Sweden.

Englund and Eriksson came back in the 3rd period and together with Kulle and Josefsson did their best to get control of the game.  The game has now taken a different turn since Team New Zealand seemed confident to win the game and gave themselves the opportunity to sit back, defend, and make it difficult for the Swedes to score.  In the end Team New Zealand defeated their Swedish hosts, 32-29.

The New Zealand team played excellently and so did Sweden.  In a funny way, it seems like the Swedish team put their play on the same level as their opponents, for better or worse.

The best player of the game was #11 from the New Zealand team, Curtis Palmer (2.5).

Tomorrow is the last day of the championships and Sweden will play their final game against Japan.

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In the other games played today, Great Britain got past Japan 38-34, and will meet New Zealand in the game that decides 5th place at the World Championships.  The Swedes will play Japan in the game for 7th.