Tokyo Paralympics: GB wheelchair rugby team reach first Paralympic final
- Published
Jim Roberts has been one of the GB stars throughout the tournament
Paralympic Games on the BBC |
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Venue: Tokyo, Japan Dates: 24 August-5 September Time in Tokyo: BST +8 |
Coverage: Follow on Radio 5 Live and on the BBC Sport website |
The Great Britain wheelchair rugby team reached their first Paralympic final with a thrilling 55-49 semi-final win over hosts Japan.
The European champions started strongly and pulled away in the third quarter.
Jim Roberts top-scored with 20 tries with Aaron Phipps on 17 but the GB defence was also key against the world champions in Tokyo.
They will face the USA, who they lost to 50-48 in the pool stages, in Sunday's final (10:00 BST).
The Americans secured their final spot with a 49-42 victory over reigning champions Australia.
GB had failed to win a medal on their five previous Games appearances, losing the bronze play-off in both 2004 and 2008.
"We didn't come here for second," said Roberts. "We came here to do as well as we can and now that means gold. We'll be pushing as hard as we can in that final.
"We knew that Japan had a long pass over the top and we wanted to completely stop that. We wanted to make them push for every metre they had on our court, and the low-scoring game showed how we were able to do that.
"There were a couple of errant passes from them, which I think is really uncharacteristic. They haven't played in so long before the Games so maybe there's a little bit of rust.
"We thought we had the stronger pool, so I think that showed. Perhaps they didn't get the same exposure to that real ferocity of game-play."
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