Canada narrowly missed out on a Top 5 finish at the GIO 2018 IWRF Wheelchair Rugby World Championships on Friday, dropping a 52-51 decision to France to finish the tournament in Sydney, Australia in sixth place.
The match couldn’t have been closer throughout the 32 minutes of action, but the Canadians just ran out of time to take over the lead. Despite the loss, it was an improvement on their earlier round-robin defeat to France, which they lost 51-42.
The young Canadian squad had arrived in Sydney with a goal of finishing Top 5. Nevertheless, there were several positives taken from the week and with six players competing in their first world championships, the tournament was an important step en route to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games two years from now.
In other results, Japan came out the victor in the final, shocking host Australia for its first-ever world championships title. The United States finished third, defeating Great Britain in the bronze-medal match.
The next major event on the wheelchair rugby calendar for Canada will be the Lima 2019 Parapan American Games next summer.
For further details on Canada’s 2018 world championship tournament, visit wheelchairrugby.ca.
Feature photo: Kevin Bogetti-Smith/Wheelchair Rugby Canada
