August 25, 2021 – Canada’s Wheelchair Rugby Team loses its Paralympic opener against Great Britain 47-50; Great Britain (ranked 4th internationally) picks up two points in Group B. Canada’s Zak Madell led all scorers with 31 tries; Jim Roberts led Great Britain with 27.

Megumi Masuda/World Wheelchair Rugby

“[This was the] first international game in 18 months”, said head coach Patrick Côté. “I am proud of how the guys performed. Tough start, we didn’t get a few bounces in the game which gave momentum to [Great Britain]. We fought our way back; we did some turnovers and couldn’t convert on the last possession at the end of the third and in the fourth, that was pretty much the game.”

Game 1 against Great Britain marked 535 days since the team’s last international match, occurring March 8, 2020, in the Paralympic Qualification Tournament.

“Our transition on offence, our key defense in the second half, those are all things we want to carry over to the American Game”, continued Patrick. “The USA is probably the team to beat, they are not number one in the world, they are second, they are a very solid team. But we know them in and out, they know us in and out. It will come down to executing on the plays.”

Canada (ranked 5th) continues its Paralympic journey against the 2nd ranked – USA. Match 2 begins August 25 7:30pm PT; 8:30pm MT; 9:30pm CT; 10:30pm ET; 11:30pm AT.

Match Statistics

Livestream and on-demand broadcasts will offer an additional 1000+ hours of competition coverage, and can be found on Paralympic.ca/Tokyo-2020, cbc.ca/tokyo2020 and Radio-Canada.ca/jeux-paralympiques, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, the free CBC Gem streaming service, and the Radio-Canada Sports app.

The full broadcast schedule can be found here.

The Paralympic Games take place from August 24 to September 5.

ABOUT WHEELCHAIR RUGBY CANADA

Wheelchair Rugby Canada is the national governing body for the Canadian Heritage Sport of wheelchair rugby. Wheelchair Rugby Canada strives to be a world-leader in wheelchair rugby, a respected advocate for wheelchair athletes and a visionary organization committed to excellence in programs from recruitment to retirement.

MEDIA CONTACT

Nathan Lederer
Communications and Marketing Coordinator
Wheelchair Rugby Canada
nathan@wheelchairrugby.ca or 905-531-742