The second game on the schedule is the one we've been waiting for back home, where the snow continues to fall, unlike our friends in southern Florida (have one for me will 'ya John?)

The game started has now started, and the first protest is also underway, with Team Canada protesting a chair, specifically the one being used by 1.0 Jai Waite.

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Meanwhile, Team Canada won the tip and is now up by a score of 2-1.

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Marco had posed the question to me in an earlier post as to when Team Canada last defeated the Kiwis. I went through a lot of source material, and found the occasional CAN victory, but never with both teams at full strength. [Edited] The only matches I was able to find were from the 1995 World Championships in Notwil, Switzerland, where Canada defeated New Zealand twice in Games 11 and 30, and the Semi-Final game at the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta. Any other victories were merely in friendlies or invitational tournaments where one or the other team was only at partial strength. The only two players from Team Canada who were on both the 1995 and 2007 teams are 0.5 Jared Funk (below) and 3.5 Garett Hickling.



*** In breaking news, Team Canada's appeal has been granted! Jai Waite's chair has been determined to be illegal! ***

This also means that dominant 3.0 Dan Buckingham can't play either, as Jai's line was the only one that he fit in to.

The main line up at the re-start will likely be (2.5) Curtis Palmer, (2.0) Gerry Tinker, (2.0) Tim Johnson and (1.5) Dave Klinkhamer, which fares well for Team Canada.

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12-10 for Canada at the end of the 1st Quarter.

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14-12 for Canada, with 6:50 left on the clock in the 2nd Quarter.

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[Many thanks to Chérie and Jon for keeping us up to date on these games...]

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Team Canada is running the Deuces Lineup (Willsie - Murao - Luangkhamdeng - Larocque) at the moment, but Fabien and Ian are about to sub in, with the score 16-15 Canada.

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It's Team Canada's arrow... and New Zealand gets called for a 15-second violation. 17-15 Canada, with 4:30 left in the Quarter.

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18-16.... 3:45 left, Canada all out of timeouts, NZL have 4.

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Changes have been made to Waite's chair and Buckingham and Waite are about to check in...

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22-19 at Half Time, with Team Canada still in the lead...

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The problem with Jai Waite's chair had something to do with the pick bar being too short.

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NZL just missed out on a goal right at half time, as Curtis Palmer was juggling the ball when crossing over the line, and he was deemed to not be in control of the ball, as you must be in order for a goal to count.

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Waite's chair has been re-measured after repairs were made, and appears now to be legal.

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Canada is fronting a lineup of (3.5) Garett Hickling, (2.0) David Willsie, (2.0) Say Luangkhamdeng, and (0.5) Daniel Paradis. The Kiwis counter with (3.0) Dan Buckingham, (2.0) Tim Johnson, (2.0) Sholto Taylor, and (1.0) Jai Waite.

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Now Canada fronts a lineup of Fabien, Mike, Patrice (seen to the right), and Jared, while New Zealand swaps Gerry for Tim.

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[Keep hitting that F5 key to refresh your screen occasionally...]

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Canada still leads by 2...

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30-27 for Canada at the end of the 3rd Quarter. Kiwi ball coming back...

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Hickling (seen on the left) - Willsie - Luangkhamdeng - Paradis on for Team Canada, while the Kiwis swap deuces, as Tim Johnson subs in for Sholto Taylor

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Curtis Palmer and Dave Klinkhamer now come in to replace the Kiwi deuce combo. Shortly thereafter, Dan Buckingham gets sent to the Sin Bin (hands) while (3.0) Ian Chan, (3.0) Mike Whitehead, (1.5) Patrice Simard, and (0.5) Jared Funk sub in for Canada.

With 3:30 left in the game, Dave Willsie is off to the penalty box (hands). NZL's Tinker and Johnson Tim sub in for Palmer and Klinkhamer.

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Tinker and Johnson sub in for Johson and Tim for Curtis and Klinkhamer.

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Turn over NZL. It's 34-33 for Canada with 2:30 to go!!!

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57 seconds to go... Gerry Tinker now in the box for a reach.

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35-33 for Canada!

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And it's over!!! Team Canada will be in the finals tomorrow against Australia! New Zealand will meet Japan for bronze! This marks Canada's first victory over New Zealand in 11 years at a sanctioned IWRF tournament!

Congrats go out to both teams for a hard fought battle on the court!

All the scores have now been updated to the CWSA web site's coverage of the Oceania Zonal Championships.