The United States of America outscored Australia 53-44 in the gold medal match to go back to the top of the podium, and Canada defeated Great Britain to win the bronze, in the last day of Wheelchair Rugby played at the USTB Gymnasium on Tuesday, September 16.
Also on Tuesday, New Zealand beat Germany to place fifth, while Japan overwhelmed China in the classification match for seventh place.
United States defeats Australia 53-44 (Gold medal match)
Bryan Kirkland and Will Groulx combined for 29 goals and 15 assists, while Andy Cohn chipped in 10 more goals to lead the new Paralympic champion's offensive. Australia kept close until the third quarter, when the US team's defense forced the Aussies to cough up five balls in the last five minutes of the period. Nick Springer and Joel Wilmoth of the United States took shifts to aggressively defend Australia's Ryley Batt, who managed to score 23 goals and give 12 assists.
Great Britain beats Canada 41-47 (Bronze medal match)
Athens silver medal team Canada embarked on a 3-0 run at the end of the first period for an 11-8 lead after five and a half minutes. Great Britain stayed close in the score until the end of the third quarter, when two turnovers helped Canada enlarge its lead to 35-29. Mike Whitehead scored 14 goals to lead Canada in scoring, while Fabien Lavoie joined him with 11 goals. Ian Chan added eight goals and six assists.
New Zealand beats Germany 28-25 (Fifth place match)
The Wheel Blacks entered the second quarter of the game determined to win a consolation prize as the team embarked on a 4-1 scoring run to take a 14-11 halftime lead. After this the outcome was never in doubt. No player's goal tally reached double figures. David Klinkhamer scored a team-high seven goals, while Geremy Tinker and Daniel Buckingham chipped in with six and five goals respectively. Germany, led Wolfgang Mayer with a game-high nine goals, bettered its Athens 2004 position of seventh.
Japan defeats China 58-32 (Seventh place match)
Japan was fast in offense and the match was effectively won after the team scored 17 goals in the first quarter for a six point lead. Shimakawa Shinichi had a game high 15 goals, while Tamura Manabu and Fujishima Shingo added 12 and nine respectively. On the China side, Chen Jun, Cheng Shuangmiao and Han Guifei combined for 32 of China's goals. They also added 18 assists.
(Xinhua News Agency September 16, 2008)