It was the turn of the German women’s team to take to the court for the first time of the Paralympic Games in the third game of the day at the Rio Olympic Arena.
Germany took on hosts Brazil, the German’s proved why they are the current Paralympic Champions in the first quarter as they burst out to a 23 – 2 lead. Brazil women fought back at the start of the second and pulled the score back, but then got into foul trouble which gave Germany the opportunity to push ahead and open up a comfortable lead 45 -13 by the end of the half.
The second half the home crowd got behind Brazil and spurred them on they kept the German scoring down but it would not be enough to get back into the game and Germany took their first win of the tournament, 77 -32.
German Head Coach Holger Glinicki said, “First game of the tournament it is important to get the win, ours was Brazil and although it was an easy game with all the spectators it was a good first game. Tomorrow is a different game, Great Britain are a stronger team so we start with Brazil and then next is GB and Canada so it’s a good start for us.”
Brazilian Coach, Martoni Sampaio, said “We played well at the beginning. Germany were respectful but at the time we could not impose ourselves. We lost some players because of foul trouble and we had too many players fouling. We needed to have more control in contact and we need to prepare more alternative options.
“For the next game we are already studying Great Britain, to try and make sure the players don’t foul as much and bring more balance to the team.
“It was just one battle, the war is not over and our players are warriors.”
Full match statistics https://www.rio2016.com/en/paralympics/wheelchair-basketball-womens-group-a-preliminary-wb-7
