Canada claimed the inaugural BT Wheelchair Rugby Challenge title ©Twitter

Canada defeated arch-rivals the United States to win the inaugural BT Wheelchair Rugby Challenge at the Copper Box Arena in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London today. 

The two countries were meeting for the second time in the tournament after Canada had earned a 58-57 victory in the group stage and both sides produced an equally thrilling match to bring the curtain down on the five-day tournament.

Michael Whitehead scored an early hat-trick but Canada still finished the opening quarter 15-14 behind.

They fought back in the second, though, to take a 28-26 half-time lead.

Canada preserved  their narrow lead in the third quarter and, with the game stretched in the closing eight minutes, they exploited gaps in the American defence to extend their advantage and seal a 54-50 win in a tournament staged to coincide with the Rugby World Cup currently being held in England. 

European champions Britain overcame France to seal fifth place in front of their home crowd
European champions Britain overcame France to seal fifth place in front of their home crowd ©IWRF

Paralympic and world champions Australia were able to make some amends for their semi-final loss to the US, claiming the bronze medal after another thrilling and closely fought match, seeing off the challenge of Japan.

The Australian side moved into a 19-16 lead by the close of the first quarter but rather than being brushed aside, as they were in yesterday’s semi-final defeat against Canada, Japan remained in the tie throughout the majority of the contest.

They ultimately fell short in the closing stages as Australia’s produced some high-quality moves in the final quarter to eventually emerge 60-55 winners.

Earlier in the day, Britain underlined their status as European champions, overcoming France in impressive style in front of their home fans.

Ayaz Bhuta and Jim Roberts proved to be two of the star performers for the British team won 53-49.

South Africa ended the eight team tournament without a win to their credit after they were comprehensively beaten 76-29 by New Zealand in the seventh place classification match.



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