• Canadian women (2-2) sit third in pool A with one more round robin game to play
• Arinn Young led Canada with 21 points, followed by Cindy Ouellet with 18 points
• Nik Goncin led all players with 25 points while Patrick Anderson picked up his fourth double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds)
• Canadian men (2-2) to resume play in placement match

Click here for access to game photos.

(August 21, 2018 – HAMBURG, GERMANY) The Canadian Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team dropped a 64-52 decision to the Netherlands in pool play at the 2018 World Championships in Hamburg on Tuesday. Canada sits third in pool A with a 2-2 record.

After a strong start by Canada, the undefeated Netherlands side found its groove and put on a clinic in the paint as Canada struggled to contain the formidable offensive duo of Mariska Beijer (36 points) and Bo Kramer (22 points). Arinn Young (Legal, Alta.) was the top point producer for Canada with 21 points, closely followed by Cindy Ouellet (Quebec. Que.) with 18 points.

“We have to do better at defence and take away their first threats,” said Team Canada head coach Marc Antoine Ducharme. “We know Beijer and Kramer typically score 90 per cent of their points, so we have to stop them from shooting and keep them outside of the key. We can’t just let her go inside and finish like she did today.”

“It’s frustrating to come out hot and lose, but you have to keep your composure the whole game,” said Young. “I think there were times when we both had mini runs back and forth, but we know what we have to clean up and that’s our defence and that’s what we’re looking forward to doing in the game tomorrow.”

The Canadian women play their final round robin game on Wednesday at 4 a.m. ET against Brazil (0-4).

In earlier action, the Canadian Men’s Wheelchair Basketball Team lost a 79-68 heartbreaker to Poland in crossover play to fall out of medal contention at the 2018 World Championships. Poland advanced to the quarter-finals, while Canada will resume play in a placement game.

Poland aggressively attacked the basket with speed, precision shooting from the outside and a commanding presence in the key, shooting 61 per cent from the field. Despite a solid effort by the Canucks on both sides of the ball, they simply had no answer to slow the Polish offence enough to close the gap on the scoreboard.  

“I’m very disappointed. They are good team and they shot very, very well and exploited their height advantage over us,” said Canada’s Patrick Anderson (Fergus, Ont.) “We put enough points on the board to win, but defensively we couldn’t get the stops and that’s sort of been our story here. We are going to have to continue to work on our offence but get a lot better on defence.

“I’m really disappointed in some of the decisions I made and shots that I missed, but at the same time we scored in the high sixties. Our defence just didn’t get the job done. That is on all of us. So, it’s going to be a real chance to look in the mirror, keep working on our strengths, and also to identify some solutions to our weaknesses to get back in the conversation again. This was our chance to re-establish ourselves as a contender and we didn’t do that. So it’s a bitter pill to swallow, but we have two years to Tokyo.”

Canadians can watch the games live on the Wheelchair Basketball Canada and Canadian Paralympic Team Facebook pages and through CBC Sports at cbcsports.ca.

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About the 2018 World Championships
 
The 2018 IWBF World Championships feature 16 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams vying for the world title as the top athletes in the game showcase the elite skill, pure athleticism and dynamic speed that allows wheelchair basketball to captivate audiences around the globe. The event is a catalyst for promoting inclusion and marks the largest world championship in the history of the sport and one of the largest international parasport events outside of the Paralympic Games.
 
For more information visit wheelchairbasketball.ca or follow Team Canada along the journey to Hamburg on social media via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
 
About Wheelchair Basketball Canada
 
Wheelchair Basketball Canada is the national sport governing body responsible for the organization of the sport in Canada. It is a non-profit, charitable organization that is committed to excellence in the development, support and promotion of wheelchair basketball programs and services for all Canadians from grassroots to high performance. Wheelchair basketball is a fast-paced, hard-hitting, competitive sport in which Canada is held in high esteem around the world for winning a combined six gold, one silver, and one bronze medal in the last seven Paralympic Games. For more information, visit www.wheelchairbasketball.ca.
 
Media Contacts
 
Courtney Pollock
Manager, Marketing and Communications
Wheelchair Basketball Canada
W: 613-260-1296 ext. 203
C: 613-291-6721
cpollock@wheelchairbasketball.ca 
 
Jody Kingsbury
Director, Marketing and Communications
Wheelchair Basketball Canada
W: 613-260-1296 ext. 206
C: 613-851-2337
jkingsbury@wheelchairbasketball.ca