There was a great atmosphere on the second day of the 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships as exciting matches kept large crowds entertained throughout the day.
The first game of day two at the 2018 World Championships, proved to be a thriller in the men’s competition between Japan and Italy. With only one point between both teams going into the final minutes of the game, it was all to play for, but it was the Japanese, who held their nerve to take the win, 58-50.
Japan’s Head Coach, Shimpei Oikawa, said following the game, “The first half of the game was very nervous and close. I tried to use all of my players as I believed in them and they knew what to do.”
With venue two now in action, the first game on court two saw Australia Gliders face Brazil in pool A of the women’s competition. Brazil started the stronger of the two taking the Gliders by surprise and jumping to a 20-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. A change to half-court defense helped the Gliders overcome a poor start and produce a 29-point turnaround to win the game, 61-44.
In the second game of the day in the main venue, Patrick Anderson made his return to the World Championship stage for the first time since 2006 and made his presence felt for Canada against Morocco. Despite a slow start from Canada, Anderson made a double-double (26 points and 10 rebounds) to help guide his team to a comfortable win, 77-47
China took their second win and another step towards a quarter-final place of the women’s competition, with a 58-27 victory against France. In a solid performance China won all four quarters 10 – 5, 16 – 10, 18 – 8 and 14 – 4.
China’s Head Coach, Xu Yuansheng, said, “We had some problems at the beginning of the game, but the longer the game went, the better my team became. That was the key today, and we’re aiming to do better at this World Championships than in any other past tournaments. Getting better is the main goal and it would be a dream to finish in the top four. “
The third men’s game of the competition produced was evenly matched for the first half, as Argentina surprised the current World Champions, Australia, keeping it to just a five-point game at halftime. However, foul trouble caused Argentina problem’s in the second half and Australia made them pay, winning the final quarter 14-2 and taking the win, 74-55.
Australia Head Coach, Craig Friday, said, “We have a lot of respect for Argentina, they are a clever team. I’m pretty happy with our performance, we did have some difficulties we will work on but for the first game I’m pretty happy with the outcome.”
Great Britain’s Philip Pratt against South Korea in 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships – Copyright MSSP
There were two impressive wins for Great Britain, as their women team defeated 2014 World Champions, Canada, 64 – 56 in a nail-biting game that went right down to the wire. Whilst the men’s team took a straightforward win against South Korea, 77-58.
There were no surprises in the other two women’s games of the day as wheelchair basketball powerhouses, USA and Germany, both proved far too strong for their opponents Algeria and Argentina, respectively. The USA team defeating Algeria, 85-13, whilst Germany also eased to a 64-16 win over Argentina.
Day two finished on a high with another exciting game as Turkey held out to a Brazilian fightback to ensure the game, 59-52, led by captain Ozgur Gurbulak’s 21 points.
Turkey’s Head Coach, Can Aksu, said, “We are very happy about this victory today. Tomorrow, however, we have a more difficult against Japan. The Japanese have a young and exciting team that is already preparing for the Paralympics 2020 in Tokyo. Nevertheless, we also want to win this game and continue our way to the quarter-finals.”
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Photos and quotes courtesy of Rollstuhlbasketball WM 2018 Hamburg – Uli – (www.uliphoto.de)
