Basketballers miss out on gold and silver

By Paul Carter

Great Britain’s men’s wheelchair basketball team will contest the bronze medal match after suffering defeat in their semi-final.

The men were defeated by a strong Australian outfit for the second time in the tournament, going down 67-54.

GB suffered for their lack of luck under the basket early on, and their opponents found themselves with a comfortable lead at half-time.

They found some form in the last quarter, scoring 21 points, but it was too little too late, and they will now face the USA, where they will be aiming to defend the bronze they won in Athens in 2004.

“We’re a bit disappointed with the result, but we came into the game having achieved our aim by getting into the top four,” said Jon Pollock.

“When you get to the semi-finals you get two shots at a medal. We’ve lost the first chance tonight so now we get a day off and it’s chance number two,” he said.

Great Britain’s assistant coach Sinclair Thomas paid tribute to head coach Murray Treseder, who had to return to his native Australia for medical reasons.

“The Aussies are a powerful team. They’re big and in great shape, and the reason for that is their ex-coach who’s now our coach. He built them, now he’s building us and by 2012 we’ll be in that sort of shape.”