GBR - GB secure 5th and 6th at Wheelchair World Championships

Birmingham (Wheelchair World Championship) -- Great Britain Women’s team faced the Dutch for the second time this tournament after a resounding win against Japan yesterday which ensured Great Britain women’s finished the highest they ever have at a World Championships, whether they won or lost the game today.

It was the Netherlands came out very strong and had a point to prove after losing by just 1 point in the earlier meeting. Great Britain struggling to find the basket after a number of attacks it meant that The Netherlands were ahead by within 5 at the end of the 1st quarter.

The second quarter saw all the damage done, The Netherlands took their chances to extend the lead to 11 points. This continued in the third quarter with The Netherlands and at one stage led by 18 points. However the Great Britain girls did not let their heads drop, Helen Freeman and Clare Strange continued their fine form from the rest of the tournament scoring 14 points each and keeping Great Britain in with a shot.

However as Great Britain chased the result even the insertion of some fresh players with Maddie Thompson and Judith Hamer coming off the bench for valuable minutes on court could not rouse GB. The Netherlands used the experience of Inge Huitzing, who finished overall leading points scorer with 20 points, to secure the win and finish with a lead of 15 points. Final Score 58 – 43

In the men’s 5th/6th playoff Great Britain took on Poland in another rematch.After snatching the victory from Canada yesterday Great Britain wanted to make sure they made it 7 wins out of 8 for their record this championship.

With 117 points and averaging 17 points per game Joni Pollock has been in impressive form for GB and this continued as he led Great Britain from the front.

Although Poland started strong getting an early 7 point lead, until GB responded with two three pointers from Pollock which quickly reduced the lead.This was then followed by some great passing which allowed the team to create space for a lay-up from Ian Sagar to give GB the lead for the first time of the match. Piotr Luszynski made sure Poland went in with a lead at the end of the first quarter by one point.

Pollock and Munn made sure GB went into half time leading 37 – 36 after a close second quarter.

A good start for GB in the third quarter saw them try to build on the narrow lead. Bandura and Filipski were both in foul trouble for Poland and Terry Bywater was in excellent form scoring some fine baskets while under pressure. Pollock added two more three pointers as well to extend the GB lead to 12 points. Poland kept pushing but weren’t able to compete with GB’s superior play. GB moved 14 points clear at the end of the third going into the final quarter with the scores at 60 - 46.

Although Poland needed to overturn a 14 point lead they did not giving up and continued to play well. However GB had ensured that the lead was secure enough and won the match 82 – 68 and claim 5th spot at the World Championships.

Jon Pollock finished as top scorer with an impressive 34 points and Simon Munn was impressive with 15 rebounds.

The schedule for tomorrow's medal games is as follows:

9.30 am bronze medal women – Canada v Australia

11.15 am bronze medal men – Italy v USA

1.30pm gold medal women – USA v Germany

4pm gold medal men – Australia v France

GBWBA