2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships

(PRWeb UK) September 28, 2010

Following a very encouraging performance in the 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships at the Richmond Olympic Oval, Vancouver, Canada, Great Britain has moved up the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation World Rankings from ninth to sixth and, in the process, defeated Belgium, the current European Champions.

Steve Palmer, Captain, comments â??It would have been terrific to medal at this event, but we will have moved our World ranking up 3 places and are definitely on track. Our defeats have all been by narrow margins, so weâ??re certainly nipping at the heels of the countries that have previously dominated the sport and it is clearly all to play for in 2012.â?

The Great Britain team were made up of Jonathan Coggan, Bulbul Hussain, Steve Palmer (Captain), Jason Roberts, Andrew Barrow, Alan Ash, Troye Collins, Justin Frishberg, Ross Morrison, Mandip Sehmi and David Anthony

Chief Executive David Pond commented, â??The team had some immensely difficult matches to play, but even against the World leaders they acquitted themselves well. Such matches also gave them a clear taste of what the competition will be for 2012, which remains our ultimate goal. It is clear that coach Tom Oâ??Connor's strategy is starting to pay dividends and, whilst we still have a great deal to do, we have definitely made progress during this tournament and are now clear in our strategy for 2012'.

The USA were victorious in the championship, defeating Australia in the final. Japan beat Sweden to take the Bronze, with Canada coming fifth, ahead of the UK.

Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby has just launched its new website: www.gbwr.org.uk The new site is now packed with functionality that enables players and the community to keep up to date with GBWR. News, fixtures and events information can be posted live, whilst video functionality enables match footage to be posted to the site alongside team and player information; inspiring stories; and help for anyone wanting to get involved with the sport.

For media enquiries and more information,

Contact Simon Whittam

simonwhittam(at)weareonshore(dot)com

01752 823414 or 07802 416420

www.gbwr.org.uk

Further information:

Tournament results for GBWR:

Game 1    CANADA 48 vs GREAT BRITAIN 41

Game 2    SWEDEN 46 vs GREAT BRITAIN 45

Game 3    USA 54 vs GREAT BRITAIN 45

Game 4    GERMANY 46 vs GREAT BRITAIN 48

Game 5    GREAT BRITAIN 51 vs FIN 43

Game 6    BELGIUM 39 vs GREAT BRITAIN 54

Game 7    CANADA 59 vs GREAT BRITAIN 54

Andy Barrowâ??s blog on:

http://www.team-2012.com/athletes/andybarrow/blogs/71.aspx

Mandip Sehmi on Twitter via:

http://twitter.com/mandipsehmi

or the 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships http://twitter.com/2010wwrc

About wheelchair rugby

Wheelchair rugby is a team sport for male and female quadriplegics. The physically demanding full-contact team sport is played indoors on a hardwood basketball court between two teams of four players. It is a unique sport that combines some elements of basketball, handball, and ice hockey, and was created in Canada in1977 by a group of athletes with a disability in Manitoba.

About the 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships

The 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships are taking place at the Richmond Olympic Oval from September 21-26. The tournament will feature teams from 12 countries, including Canada (2002 World Champions), New Zealand (2004 Paralympic Champions), USA (2008 Paralympic Champions) and Australia (2010 Coupe Canada Cup holders). Also competing are Japan, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Great Britain, Poland, Finland and Argentina.

IWRF World Rankings

As of November 9, 2009

1. United States

2. Australia

3. Canada

4. Belgium

5. New Zealand

6. Sweden

7. Japan

8. Germany

9. Great Britain

10. Poland

11. Finland

12. Switzerland

13. Austria

14. Denmark

15. Ireland

16. Czech Republic

17. Netherlands

18. Korea

19. South Africa

20. France

21. Argentina

22. Brazil

23. China

24. Norway

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