Canada’s wheelchair rugby team fell 51-48 to the United States in its opening group-stage match of the Paris Paralympics on Thursday, despite a dominant performance from team veteran Zak Madell.
The Okotoks, Alta., native scored a game-high 31 tries in the 32-minute match at Champ-de-Mars Arena in front of a loud crowd that included plenty of Canada fans.
The Canadians kept pace with the Americans for most of the match but were unable to overcome the relentless offensive attack and balanced scoring, narrowly trailing after each quarter.
Chuck Aoki led the U.S. with 21 tries, while Josh Wheeler also reached double digits in the opening Group A match with 11.
“They’re a strong team. They’ve got a great key defence,” Madell said. “We maybe didn’t play our cleanest game. They played a pretty clean game and came [out] on top.”
WATCH l Madell is trying to create a Canadian wheelchair rugby legacy in Paris:
Zak Madell is a Paralympic silver medallist and is looking for more for his country and sport at the Paralympic Games Paris 2024.
The U.S. took control early, but Canada began to find its offensive rhythm in the final minutes of the first quarter as Madell repeatedly powered his way over the goal line. Madell then fed Cody Caldwell for a try in the final seconds to make it a two-point game entering the second frame at 14-12.
Madell tied the match at 24 apiece with 1:26 remaining in the second with his 18th try of the match, but the Americans showed no signs of slowing down. Mason Symons quickly put the U.S. back on top and Aoki swatted away a Madell pass with seconds left to preserve the one-point lead entering the third quarter.
Madell averaged a try per minute over the first three quarters and helped keep the game within reach down the stretch. He made it a three-point game at 50-47 with less than 40 seconds left to go, but Symons responded with another try.
Caldwell added to the Canadian scoring with 9.1 seconds left as the Americans held on for the win.
“It feels great. Canada’s a really strong side, and we knew they were gonna bring everything today, and they certainly did, but we knew we really wanted to get a pull on the top of this one,” Aoki said. “So I feel great about it. Feel really good about the way the team played.”
WATCH l Full coverage of Canada’s opening match vs. United States:
Watch preliminary round action from Group A as Canada faces the USA in the wheelchair rugby competition.
Canada is searching for its first-ever Paralympic gold medal in the sport. The national team played for a medal in the first six editions of the Paralympic tournament — winning three silvers and one bronze — but it failed to reach the semifinals in 2021 and hasn’t reached the final since 2012.
The Canadians will next face Germany on Friday at 11:30 a.m. ET before taking on Tokyo bronze medallist Japan on Saturday at the same time.
“I think we take some of the stuff that we can learn from this game, and we just move on, stick to our game plan against Germany, protect the ball, and I think we’ll be good,” said longtime national team player Trevor Hirschfield.
Defending Paralympic champion Great Britain opened the tournament with a 58-55 win over Australia in Group B action.
Other Canadian results:
- Para swimming world-record holder Aurélie Rivard advanced to the final in the women’s 50-metre freestyle S10 event, while Shelby Newkirk qualified for a spot in the S6 50m free final.
- Emma Reinke’s six-goal performance led Canada’s goalball team to a 10-0 win over host France in its Pool D opener.
- Alison Levine opened the boccia tournament with a 4-3 win over Hanaa Elfar of Egypt, while Danick Allard lost 6-2 to Japan’s Hirose Takayuki and Lance Cryderman lost 7-0 to Portugal’s Andre Ramos.
Source Agencies
