Author: Editor Prime

The second day of the European Championship Division C starts right where the first one left off, with Austria and Italy winning against Sweden (49-40) and Ireland (50-30) respectively.
But it is Austria that win the direct confrontation 52-50 and take the lead in the Championship at the end of the first phase of the tournament, leaving the host team in second place.
The last game sees Ireland beat Sweden 51-45 and thus determine the final standings ahead of tomorrow’s decisive matches.
On Saturday morning, Italy and Ireland will meet again at 9:30 while Austria and Sweden will be on the parquet at 11:45.
The bronze medal match will take place at 15:30 and the head-to-head for the gold medal will start at 17:30.

STANDINGS

1. AUT
2. ITA
3. IRL
4. SWE

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE

9:30 ITA– IRL

11:45 AUT – SWE

15:30 3°/4°

17:30 1°/2°

Italy and Austria take the first two wins of the 2023 WWR European Championship – Division C in Lignano Sabbiadoro.
The host team dominates the opening match of the tournament, defeating Sweden 53-39: at the end of the first half the Scandinavians are down by only 8 points, but in the third period Italy get the upper hand with a maximum lead of +16 and secure victory.

The second game is well balanced with only seven points separating the two teams: Austria wins 49-42 after a real head-to-head that lasts all four periods. Irland fight until the very last second and proves to be motivated and ready to give a hard time to any team on the parquet.

The second day of the European Championship will take place as follows:

9:30 SWE – AUT

11:45 IRL – ITA

17:00 ITA – AUT

19:15 SWE – IRL

The 2023 WWR International Wheelchair Rugby Cup Schedule is now available to view.

Taking place in Paris, France on the 18th October 2023, 8 Nations will be going head to head for the Gold!

To view the schedule, click the download button.

Chengdu will be host to the 12^th edition of The World Games, taking place from the 7^th to the 17^th August 2025. This will be the third time the multi-sport event is hosted in Asia since the first time The World Games was held in 1981.

Wheelchair Rugby made its debut as an invitational sport of The World Games in 2022, which took place in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. Wheelchair Rugby was also the first Paralympic sport at The World Games.

Tim Johnson, Head of Competitions, said “It’s fantastic to once again be part of The World Games which enables WWR to showcase the Low Point discipline of our game. There has been significant interest from Members eagerly awaiting the positive news. Much planning has been completed so far and we welcome the challenge to ensure we present an excellent image of what our athletes and sport can achieve both on and off the court in Chengdu in 2025”.

Sebastian Garvens, IWGA Sports Director, said “Wheelchair Rugby was the first ever para sport on The World Games programme. At the 2022 Games in Birmingham USA, the tournament proved to be a real asset to our multisport event, and the cooperation with the international federation has been great throughout the process. So the sport is more than welcome to participate again in Chengdu, People’s Republic of China. What is also significant is that Wheelchair Rugby was a trailblazer: there will be a total of four para sports or disciplines at the Chengdu Games. What makes the TWG special is that these sports are part of the events, and the medals therefore also count towards the official medal tally. This development reflects the principle of inclusiveness that we have committed to in our strategy paper ‘Growth beyond Excellence’.”

WWR President, Richard Allcroft said “I would like to thank the International World Games Association for their support and vision in including wheelchair rugby in The World Games in 2025. Wheelchair rugby will add to the already exciting array of sports on the programme and I hope that this will also reinvigorate the development of our sport in China”.

The 2023 WWR European Championship – Division C is now available to view.

Taking place in Udine, Italy on the 21st September 2023, Italy, Sweden, Austria, and Ireland will be going head to head for the Division C Championship!

To view the schedule, click the download button.

Loughborough University and WWR collaborate once again, with Chilling the Game: Mastering cooling strategies for Wheelchair Rugby

A player’s classification, impairment type and physical attributes all contribute to the predisposition of heightened thermal strain in Wheelchair Rugby.

Chilling the Game is a visual aid providing details of pre-, per-, and post-cooling strategies that may be optimal for a wheelchair rugby game. The aid helps players to identify and be consistent with what works best for them.

WWR would like to thank Dr Tom O’Brien, Prof. Vicky Goosey-Tolfrey and colleagues at the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport at Loughborough University for their work on cooling methods for Wheelchair Rugby Athletes.

Chilling the Game: Mastering cooling strategies for Wheelchair Rugby can be found on the WWR Website:

https://worldwheelchair.rugby/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/cooling-methods-final-_-June-2023-WWR-approved-ver002.pdf

2023 World Wheelchair Rugby Asia-Oceania Championships concluded with finals day on 2nd July at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, with medals and one spot on the line in the gold medal match with the winner taking the automatic spot for 2024 Paris Paralympics.

Up first was the bronze medal match between the favourites New Zealand who was confidently coming into the match having dispatched Korea twice in the round robin and pushing both Japan and Australia who were playing in the Gold medal match, and Korea who had a bad disruption just before the tournament which lead to them forfeiting their 3 round 2 matches.

This match went according to plan for the Kiwis and were dominant from start to finish rolling out all squad members in this match, though there were signs of mistakes that had cost them against Japan and Australia. Korea gave it their all but they just weren’t up to the task to compete against New Zealand in this one. Korea did manage to get their second highest game total in the bronze medal match though. Final score – New Zealand 53 Korea 31

Once the dust had settled on the bronze, up next was the game that was the most anticipated match. Though Japan had won both encounters between the 2 teams in the round robin stage, Australia had shown enough promise to push the hosts and the feeling around the stadium was that it was going to be close.

The first 4 minutes went try for try until Japan broke the deadlock with a turnover. With 2 minutes left and Australia was looking for a turnover of their own, they managed to cough the ball up 3 times inside a minute and Japan went in to the first break 16-12 in the lead.

Second period began with Australia getting some luck and Ryley Batt finding spaces he couldn’t get to in the first period, while Japan kept up their well-structured play. It took until just over 1 minute left in the half for the first turnover of the period to happen due to a loose pass from the Australian side. Japan used their first 60 second time out of the game to score last in the half and taking advantage of starting the 3rd period with possession. Japan managed to extend their lead by 1, with going in to the longer break leading 30-25

Third period started with a moment that summed up things for Japan and Australia with Shinichi Shimakawa tipping over but managing to get a pass off in time for the hosts to open the scoring in 2nd half. This was a period where time outs looked to be critical, with Japan using all their remaining 30 second time outs and only 1 60 second time out remained at the end of the period. Australia had used their 60 second time outs but still had 1 remaining 30 second time out so there was hope for the Australians, though they were down 41-33 going in to the last period.

Unfortunately for the few Australians in the crowd, hopes of their side turning things around quickly faded when their side made 2 turnovers before 2 minutes had gone. The Australian side always kept trying but, in the end, Japan were too good and kept extending their lead, and ended triumphing 55-44, sending off their coach Kevin Orr who had announced he was stepping down before the tournament started, with another tournament win.

Best in Class –
0.5 James McQuillan (Australia)
1.0 Hitoshi Ogawa (Japan)
1.5 Seiya Norimatsu (Japan)
2.0 Andrew Edmonson (Australia)
2.5 Cameron Leslie (New Zealand)
3.0 Daisuke Ikezaki (Japan)
3.5 Katsuya Hashimoto (Japan)

Tournament MVP – Yukinobu Ike (Japan)

Final Placings

1st – Japan
2nd – Australia
3rd – New Zealand
4th – Korea

The round robin stage has been completed here in Tokyo, Japan for the 2023 World Wheelchair Rugby Asia Oceania Championships.

After 3 days of competition, it is the hosts, Japan, who will go into the Gold medal match as favourites having gone undefeated throughout the tournament. Lead by their front players Daisuke Ikezaki and Yukinobu Ike, they will be looking to send off head coach Kevin Orr with a tournament win. Orr, who lives in the USA and has been commuting in his time as Japan’s coach, announced the day before the start of the tournament that he would be stepping down from the role.

Australia have played well all tournament and have lead their matches against Japan for at least half of each of them but have made costly errors towards the end of their clashes that has proved costly. They will be pleased that they have had some close games against New Zealand to run different line ups.

New Zealand have had some good performances at times, but have been let down also by errors at critical times. Given they pushed Australia and Japan at times in all their matches against these opponents, there is certainly some positives for the Kiwis.

Korea came into the tournament in a rebuilding phase, and had an unfortunate disruption just prior to the tournament, which meant that they didn’t have their ideal team look they had wanted. After consulting with WWR and JWRF, the decision was made by the Koreans to forfeit their second matches against the other 3 teams. Instead, exhibition matches were played under WWR rules, including the official result of these matches being 1-0 to Korea’s opposition. They will however, officially compete for bronze tomorrow against New Zealand. None of the forfeited matches determined any placings.

Matches on the final day of competition (times are in Japanese Standard Time) –

Bronze medal match 12:15pm New Zealand vs Korea

Live stream links
English commentary – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dplst1RG5xw

Japanese commentary – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj_VreF9YyY

Gold medal match 2:15pm Japan vs Korea
English commentary – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eDRhJNSNCg

Japanese commentary – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeHgZ649jdA

29^th July sees the 10^th edition of Asia-Oceania Championships (the first 4 editions were known as Oceania Championship), taking place at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. This is the first time since 2019 the Championship has been held, after the 2021 edition in Auckland, New Zealand, was cancelled due to the COVID19 Pandemic.  

4 countries will be competing – Japan (hosts), Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea, with the winner taking the solitary automatic spot from the region for the 2024 Paris Paralympics. The 3 countries that are left from these championships, will have the choice of competing at the last chance tournament for the Paralympics, to be held in April next year, at a venue to be confirmed.

Japan Wheelchair Rugby Federation have said they are looking forward to hosting this event 2 years after hosting the wheelchair rugby tournament at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Australia come into these Championships having won the last 2, defeating Japan both times and are looking at building on their legacy in this sport. Japan won the Championship last in 2015, having defeated Australia back then in Chiba, Japan; while New Zealand’s solitary win at the Championships has been in 2005 which were held in Brakpan, South Africa. South Korea come in to this tournament, looking for their first medal, with their best finish being 4^th that they have achieved 4 times in their 5 attempts at the champs.

There are 3 countries that have already qualified from Europe for Paris Paralympics 2024 – France (hosts), Great Britain and Denmark.

All matches will be live streamed to YouTube –

English commentary – https://www.youtube.com/@worldwheelchairrugby6250/streams

Japanese commentary – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOe-EdwWb1n51c4-UEzNS_A

Photograph: Megumi Masuda/World Wheelchair Rugby

WWR are excited to announce that Shae Graham has accepted the role of Athlete Representative.
Shae has competed at the highest level including gold medallist at the recent World Championship in Denmark where the “Steelers” raised the cup as World Champions. Also competing at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Shae commented “I am excited to work with the WWR Athlete Council to create an effective Athlete voice that represents what the players want to see in and around the sport. Ultimately, I took on the position to support and promote the voices of the Athletes in our sport. It’s also a great opportunity to grow both personally and professionally and it provides me with an opportunity to learn more about how WWR operates.”

WWR President Richard Allcroft said “I’m really pleased Shae has accepted the role after carefully considering and discussing it with her peers. The Athlete Council is an important part of our organisation and we need to make sure it can be more effective in its role, acting as the athlete voice.”

As the Athlete Representative, the position will act as Chair of the Athlete Council. It is also an elected position and therefore is also a Board Director able to influence and act directly at the highest level of leadership in the organisation.

As the position was left vacant at the previous General Assembly, the WWR Board have co-opted as an interim appointment. The position will remain as such until the next General Assembly, where elections can take place.

Shae’s role was also supported by the WWR National Member Organisation for Australia.