|
The 1998 Wheelchair Rugby World Championships were held at Humber College, Etobicoke, Ontario, from 23 to 28 June 1998. Twelve teams from around the world were represented at this event, the highlight of the year for wheelchair rugby enthusiasts.
Opening Ceremonies – June 23, 1998
Wheelchair rugby, a court game designed and developed for quadriplegics, was invented in Canada, by Canadians. Bringing the
best of the best from around the world to Canada, the birthplace of the sport, was especially satisfying to those who have been involved in rugby from the beginning. The bronze medal, third-place finish of Canada’s National Team was the icing on the cake.
Round-robin play took place from June 23–26, with teams divided into two pools of six. Second-seed Canada drew a tough pool, grouped with third seed New Zealand as well as the strong Australian team, seeded sixth, and the up-and-coming seventh seed Germany. Tenth seed Austria and eleventh seed Switzerland rounded out the pool.
In early competition Canada scored victories over Switzerland (35-20) and Austria (43-26) on the first day of competition. The second day of action saw them prevail (40-31) over Australia, who were still smarting from a surprising one-point loss to Germany on day one. With that in mind, Canada approached the German team with respect on the third day of play. The Germans came on strong early in the game and stayed in the competition for the first half of the game. However, the
experienced Canadian squad was ultimately too much for them, taking control early in the second half and scoring a handy (40-34) victory.
The final day of round robin competition saw Canada matched against New Zealand in the most anticipated game of the week. The Kiwis had presented strong challenges to Canada in both the 1995 World Championships and the 1996 Paralympics, and they were hungry for a shot at gold in Toronto. After four quarters of hard-hitting rugby with the lead see-sawing between the two, New Zealand pulled ahead in the final minutes to win (33-30). With this victory, New Zealand finished first in Pool B with Canada coming out in second place.
In other competition, the reigning champions from the UNITED STATES / LES ÉTATS-UNIS dominated play, easily winning all of their games and finishing first in Pool A. Fourth seed Sweden finished second. This set-up the semi-final matches which would see Canada play the US and New Zealand face Sweden.
June 27th dawned with Canada looking forward to testing themselves against the US once again. They had previously met in the final rounds of the 1995 World Championships and the 1996 Paralympics, fighting for gold. Now they were fighting to see who would get to the gold medal game. Both teams included a number of experienced players, and veterans of previous matchups. With vocal crews of supporters from both sides of the border in the stands, this was a game to remember.
The game was fast-paced, aggressive and very exciting for the fans. Canada came out strong with a new addition to the starting line-up, a young player from London, David Willsie, complementing veterans Garett Hickling, Allan Semeniuk and Dany Bélanger. The game was very close throughout the first half with the score tied at the buzzer. But the US, boasting tremendous depth in their twelve-man squad, overpowered Canada in the second half winning the game by a score of
(41-35). In other action, New Zealand handily defeated Sweden to set up the final games pitting the US against New Zealand for gold and Canada playing Sweden for bronze.
It wasn’t difficult to predict the final results. Canada easily defeated Sweden by a score of (44-35) to wrap-up third place and the US took gold, beating New Zealand (31-28).
The final standings at the end of six days of hard competition were:
| 1. United States | 7. Great Britain |
| 2. New Zealand | 8. Belgium |
| 3. Canada | 9. Netherlands |
| 4. Sweden | 10. Switzerland |
| 5. Australia | 11. Austria |
| 6. Germany | 12. Finland |
The 1998 Wheelchair Rugby World Championship All-Tournament Team included:
| Garett Hickling | Most Valuable Player | Canada |
| Eddie Crouch | 0.5 | USA |
| Grant Sharman | 1.0 | New Zealand |
| Bill Renje | 1.5 | USA |
| Cliff Chunn | 2.0 | USA |
| Sholto Taylor | 2.5 | New Zealand |
| Troy McGuirk | 3.0 | USA |
| Brad Updegrove | 3.5 | USA |
| Cliff Chunn | Sportsmanship | USA |
The next major event for eight of these teams and many of the talented and committed athletes who played at the 1998 World
Championships will be the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia. With the rapid rise in popularity of wheelchair rugby,
the only team sport for quadriplegics, the quality of competition just keeps getting better and better. It’s sure to be
a treat to watch in Sydney!
| 
