Canada came out charging from the start and stunned the defending world and Paralympic champions to take a 24-21 halftime lead in front of an ecstatic crowd.

But the top seeds clawed their way back into the contest and with less than a minute left, Canada’s Ian Chan was charged with a foul which gave the Americans a man advantage.

The US then took their first lead of the game at 49-48 and with just with 2.7 seconds left in the clash, the Canadians could not respond despite Garett Hickling’s last gasp desperation pass up the court.

America;s Will Groulx said: "It was a great team win for us. 

"This game like a lot of games is about momentum.

"It was a huge benefit to have the time out at the end.

"We always say we never want to take them home with us but having that one at the end was huge.

"It’s always a pleasure to play in front of a good crowd."

Canadian head coach Kevin Orr said: "We got our lead by playing intense defence and we put everything out on the court and that's really all we ask of the guys, is to leave everything out there.

"We have to credit the United States for what they did.

"They used their lines as well but when it came down to the end we just didn't have anything left in the tank."

In another important match, Japan settled their own fate with a close 51-50 win over Poland to book their ticket into the semi-finals after they had earlier defeated New Zealand 56-47.

Japan's Shin Shimakawa said: “It was very exciting.

"We never gave up.

"We thought it might be a close game but it was more than what we thought."

In the other matches today, Paralympic silver medalists Australia joined the US as the only other undefeated team in round robin play with a 66-41 win over Belgium followed by a 69-24 destruction of Argentina.

Britain picked up their second win of the tournament with a 51-43 win over Finland, Sweden defeated Germany 51-41 and Germany then got its first win of the tournament with a 49-47 final over Finland.

The semi-finals are now set with Australia set to play Sweden and Japan facing the US.

It will be the first time Japan will be in a semi-final at a World Championship but they, like Sweden, face an uphill battle to stop the US meeting Australia in a repeat of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic gold medal match.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]

Picture: BCWSA/Kevin Bogetti-Smith


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