Six days of play at the GIO 2018 IWRF Wheelchair Rugby World Championship culminated for the U.S. in the bronze medal final against Great Britain. Coming off of the loss to Japan in Thursday’s semi-final, the Americans would look to get back to their winning ways to close out the tournament. The U.S. found success tonight, taking the bronze with a solid win 47-36.
The U.S. faced Great Britain earlier in the week in pool play coming away with a 47-41 victory. The opening moments of tonight’s first quarter were dictated by the U.S., intercepting a pass at 6.20, giving the Eagles a quick two try lead. The first would close with the score, 12-9 in favor of the U.S. Fairly even back and forth play marked the second as the Americans played well designed defense in the key, creating turnovers that brought them up by four at the end of the half, 23-19.
The third opened continuing the quick pace of play with Aoki making an interception at 6.15, taking the Eagles up by six. Versatile lines by the U.S. exerted pressure on Great Britain at both ends of the court. The third would close with the margin extending in favor of USA up 37-28. The final minutes of the bronze medal game mirrored the first three quarters with the U.S. capitalizing on a turnover with just 18 seconds left in the game to bring the final score to 47-36.
The U.S. finishes World Championships with a 6-1 record. Complete tournament results including the outcome of the gold medal final between Japan and host country Australia can be found on the event website. Check back to usawr.org throughout the remainder of summer and this fall as we look ahead to the 2019 season.