June 02, 2002

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!

Canada   vs.   United States

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...

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