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The first game of day four at the 2018 World Championships, was an exhilarating demonstration of the sport, as South Korea men came from the 14 points behind against Poland men to make it a one-point game with 3.4 seconds to go. It was the South Korea who had the last attempt at winning the game, but the last shot bounced off the front of the ring and Poland got their first win of the tournament, 54-53.
Poland Head Coach, Piotr Luszynski, "It was hard wor right up until the last seconds. In the first half we dominated, but then lost our concentration. South Korea came into the game just before the end with two beautiful three-pointers, then we were nervous. Luckily, we ended the game well. "
Great Britain women continued their winning momentum this time with a win over Spain, 47-38. It was Spain who took the early lead which they held for much of the game, however, they struggled to keep up their intensity for the last two quarters and it was GB who outpaced in the last quarter to win the victory.
GB’s Head Coach, Miles Thompson, "It's was one of those games where you just want to survive. Spain has played with lots of emotion and a lot of heart. We know we can play better and that's what's important to us."
The second win of the tournament for Iran men was against African Champions, Morocco. Iran put their stamp on the game from the start and ran away it, with quarter scores of 24-6, 21-12, 12-14, 18-14, to win 75-46.
Germany women put on a solid performance as they overcame a young and inexperienced USA team, 70-56, to continue their winning run and continue to top pool B.
Germany's Head Coach, Martin Otto, said, "It was a great game. We switched from a strong defense to a very good offense throughout the game. We want to win this group and look forward to our next match against China."
Argentina and Algeria faced each other in pool B in the women’s competition, with both teams creating history by making their first ever debut on the World stage, it was a chance to demonstrate what they could do. Argentina took the win, 65 - 40, but the performance for Algeria was showed lots of positives that the team could take out the game.
Algeria and Argentina playing at their first ever 2018 World Championship
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Canada men remain undefeated in pool A to, after defeating host Germany, 78-61, to join Iran with 4 points each at the top of the table.
Germany's Head Coach, Nicolai Zeltinger, said, "Canada deservedly won, because we lost the ball too often and we did not get e. Now the next game in the crossovers against USA or GBR will be very difficult for us."
A huge game by Canada women's Arinn Young, scoring 31 points and 15 rebounds, helped Canada to an overtime win over the Australian Gliders, 82 -74. Similar to their previous performances so far in the competition, Australia did not start well allowing Canada to hold a five-point game at halftime. However, the Gliders, turned up the pressure in defence and came back to take a four-point lead with 30 seconds left on the clock, but they could not hold on to it and the game was forced into overtime, tied at 68 all. Canada took this momentum into overtime and sealed the victory.
The final game on court 2 was the battle of the European teams in pool D as the Netherlands and Spain men matched up both still looking for their first win. It was the Netherlands men who came out on top against Spain, 74-60.
Another great spectacle for the sport was the last game of the day between Paralympic gold medallist USA and Paralympic Bronze medallist Great Britain. With a historic rivalry between the two teams, the match started at a frantic pace, which worked to the advantage of Great Britain taking an early 8 point advantage forcing USA's Head Coach, Ron Lykins to make changes. The new line-up Lykins introduced worked pressing Great Britain and causing them to make a number of turnovers too which they converted, to come back and take the win 66-59.
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Photos and quotes courtesy of Rollstuhlbasketball WM 2018 Hamburg - MSSP Michael Schwartz / Uli Gasper
