It was an exciting Day One of low point wheelchair rugby competition at The World Games. Competition started with a matchup between Japan and USA. The dynamic duo of brothers Seiya and Takayuki Norimatsu got Japan off to a strong start, and they never looked back defeating USA 50, 14. USA’s young squad never backed down and had a bright third quarter causing multiple turnovers for Japan. Joel Rodriguez had a strong offensive performance for Team USA and led the way in scoring.
Germany and Canada met in match number two of the day. It was close throughout. Trevor Hirschfield and Patrice Dagenais served up a one-two punch across the try line for Canada, and Germany showed fantastic team play as well. Their text book offensive transition set up picking angles and passing lanes, which resulted in tries for all of the players from the 1.5s to the 0.5s. Additionally, their full court defense caused key turnovers in the third and fourth quarters. Despite playing the same four athletes – Britta Kripke, Robert Teichmann, Thomas Schuwje and Christian Riedel – for almost the entire game, Germany had enough energy left in the tank to pull away in the fourth and take a 41-33 victory over Canada.
Game three was a matchup between European rivals Great Britain and Switzerland. While Switzerland’s 0.5 player Peter Roos was the first to score, GB quickly took control of the game with the offensive power of Myles Pearson and Nicholas Cummins. At the end of the second quarter, GB was up 27-9. Team Switzerland never gave up and never stopped pushing. 1.0 player Adrian Moser had a standout performance, playing almost the entire match and making important offensive and defensive plays. Still, Great Britain was too strong to overcome and won 51-17.
Match four turned the heat up in the chilly Birmingham Crossplex arena as Japan and Germany went head-to-head. It was a back-and-forth match from the start. Once again, Seiya and Takayuki Norimatsu led the way in scoring for Japan while Robert Teichmann and Thomas Schuwje were Germany’s offensive duo. Japan ended the first period with a 9-7 lead, but Germany came back in the second period, ending the first half with a 16-16 tie. Team Germany scored first to start the third, but it was quickly followed up by a Japan try. Two back-to-back turnovers by Germany allowed Japan to once again take the lead 19-17. Costly turnovers by Germany in the third and fourth periods and defensive stops by Japan allowed them to extend their lead and take a 35-30 victory.
The day ended with Canada taking on Great Britain. Both teams showed balanced play and scoring ability from 1.5s to 0.5s, and the first period ended in a 9 all tie. The speed and defensive pressure of Great Britain caused key Canadian turnovers in the second and allowed them to take a 21-16 lead going into the half. Defense was the name of this game. Both sides applied pressure in the full and half court making it difficult for either side to score. Once again, the speed of Myles Pearson and passing ability of Nicholas Cummins gave GB the advantage, and they cruised to a 42-30 victory to end the day.
Day One Results
- Match 1: Japan 50, USA 14
- Match 2: Germany 41, Canada 33
- Match 3: Great Britain 51, Switzerland 17
- Match 4: Japan 35, Germany 30
- Match 5: Great Britain 42, Canada 30
- Canada 0-2
- Great Britain 2-0
- Germany 1-1
- Japan 2-0
- Switzerland 0-2
- USA 0-2
Day Two Schedule
Friday, July 15
All times are listed in UTC-6
- 9:00 Japan vs Switzerland
- 11:00 Great Britain vs USA
- 13:00 Canada vs Switzerland
- 15:00 Germany vs USA
- 17:00 Japan vs Great Britain