(Birmingham, UK) The Canadian Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team advanced to the semi-finals of the 2010 World Wheelchair Basketball Championships Wednesday. They comfortably cruised past Japan 62-39 in their quarterfinal match to improve their record to 4-1. They now must topple the undefeated USA Women to earn their spot in final and the opportunity to defend their World Championship title. They are the only Canadian team remaining in contention following a Team Canada Men’s loss in the quarterfinals to Italy.
The tournament is taking place July 7-17, 2010 in Birmingham, UK. Both the Canadian Teams won gold at the previous tournament held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands in 2006. For the Canadian Women it was their fourth consecutive World Championships, meaning this year they are vying for an unprecedented fifth straight World Title.
The Canadian Women came out flying and quickly established a 7-0 lead. By the end of the first quarter the lead grew to 24-8 in their favour. Japan fought back hard over the course of the next three quarters, but Canada was diligent in preventing them from stealing back too much momentum. They edged their opponents on the scoreboard in all but the third quarter in which Japan outscored them the slimmest of margins 14-13. Otherwise it was all Canada. They claimed 45 rebounds alongside Japan’s 31 and hit 26-out-of-55 shots from the field (47%) compared to their opponents lack of efficiency at (27%).
The Canucks were led by the tournament’s top offensive player thus far, Janet McLachlan (Vancouver, BC), who dominated with 32 points and 20 rebounds. McLachlan now has a double-double in all five of Canada’s games. She also stepped up defensively with a game-high 3 blocks.
Tracey Ferguson (Holland’s Landing, ON) potted 12 points, while Cindy Ouellet (Quebec, QC) had 8 assists and 5 rebounds in the victory.
“We feel great about the victory. Getting into the semi-finals was our first goal and our second is to make the finals. Now that we’ve accomplished the first we are ready for next,” said Team Canada Women’s Athlete Tara Feser (St. Albert, AB).
“We came off the bench ready to play this game. You could tell right from the start we were ready to go. We carried it right through to the end.”
Team Canada Men’s record falls to 3-2 following a shocking loss to Italy in their worst offensive output of the tournament. The Italians held Canada to just 22 points in the first half and a tournament low 47 points after they averaged 68 points per game through five preliminary matches.
The tournament’s first major upset will see Italy advance to the semi-finals, while the defending champs Canada will move to the relegation bracket where the best they can place is fifth.
Italy established a 2 point lead 5:04 into the first quarter and never looked back. By halftime the deficit grew to 8 points - and lackluster shooting (33% from the field) cost Canada the opportunity to climb out of the hole. To their credit the Italians refused to let up and consistently found ways to hit difficult shots ensuring most of the momentum stayed in their favour.
Canada failed to register a player in double-digit scoring for the first time, while the Italians had three players with at least 10 points. Once again Adam Lancia (Toronto, ON) tallied a team-high with 9 points, while Joey Johnson claimed 13 rebounds. David Eng (Montreal, QC) and Dave Durepos (Fredericton, NB) chipped in with 8 and 7 points respectively.
“There were times when we looked like we were building momentum and ready to mount a comeback,” said Team Canada Men’s Head Coach Jerry Tonello.
“We had our opportunities but for whatever reason we just couldn’t seem to overcome the ten point spread. They were making their shots and proved to be very deadly. We needed the same type of performance from our players. Unfortunately today we didn’t get it.”
Up next the Canadian Men will face Great Britain Thursday at 4:15 pm (GMT). The Brits were also the victim of an upset when they fell to France 59-50 in their quarterfinal game.
The Canadian Women meet the USA at 6:30 pm (GMT). The winner will compete in the tournament’s championship game on Saturday.
Canadian athletes and coaches will be available for scheduled interviews throughout the duration of the tournament.
Team Canada Men Schedule/Results (all times shown in GMT):
vs. Mexico – Thu. July 8, 2010 @ 2:00pm – Win 68-45
vs. Algeria – Fri. July 9, 2010 @ 4:15pm – Win 87-61
vs. France – Sat. July 10, 2010 @ 2:15pm – Win 67-55
vs. Turkey – Sun. July 11, 2010 @ 11:45am – Win 69-60
vs. Australia – Mon. July 12, 2010 @ 6:45pm – Loss 67-49
Quarterfinals vs. Italy – Wed. July 14, 2010 @ 12:15pm – Loss 63-47
Relegation vs. Great Britain – Thu. July 15, 2010 @ 4:15pm
Team Canada Women Schedule/Results: (all times shown in GMT):
vs. Great Britain – Thu. July 8, 2010 @ 11:45am – Win 54-39
vs. Netherlands – Fri. July 9, 2010 @ 2:00pm – Win 58-54
vs. Mexico – Sun. July 11, 2010 @ 6:45pm – Win 69-44
vs. Australia – Mon. July 12 @ 12:15pm - Loss 59-53
Quarterfinals vs. Japan – Wed. July 14 @ 6:45pm – Win 62-39
Semi-final vs. USA – Thu. July 15, 2010 @ 6:30pm
Medal games & closing ceremonies - Saturday July 17, 2010
Wheelchair Basketball Canada is at the 2010 World Wheelchair Basketball Championships and will be providing frequent social media updates, video blogs, and photo galleries, in addition to daily recaps.
For more information visit: www.wheelchairbasketball.ca
Facebook: facebook.com/wheelchairbasketball
Twitter: twitter.com/WCBballCanada
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/WheelchairBball
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About Wheelchair Basketball Canada
Wheelchair Basketball Canada is the national sports governing body responsible for the organization of wheelchair basketball in Canada. It is a non-profit, charitable organization that is the Canadian member to the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF).
www.wheelchairbasketball.ca
For more information, to request additional images, or to schedule an interview contact:
Emma Van Steen
Communications & Media Relations Assistant
T: 613-260-1296 ext. 200
evansteen@wheelchairbasketball.ca
