Britain's women were the story of the day for a rapturous home crowd as they secured a 47-43 win over Canada, who are seeded three places above them in the world rankings.

The superb Helen Freeman (pictured) was the top scorer in the game by a significant margin with a 29-point haul for the hosts and although it was an evenly matched contest throughout, Britain powered away to get their World Cup campaign off to the perfect start.

"A win against Canada is amazing for us as we haven't beaten them for a couple of years," said Freeman.

"We are a young team and most of us are preparing for the Junior World Championships coming up so competing at the BT Paralympic World Cup against such a senior team is invaluable to us."

Head coach Garry Peel added: "We were really happy with the performance today.

"We started off nervous and were struggling to score but the defence was excellent and it was a great performance as the team gained their confidence throughout the match."

Britain's men were not so jubilant following their game against France although they went into the match looking against looking to avenge their quarter-final defeat to the French at last year's World Championships.

But despite a strong start which saw them lead by 16-11 after the first quarter, the French team proved too strong for the defending champions and recorded the win by 68-53 points.

Simon Munn, who claimed 10 points for Britain in a solid individual display, said: "The team underperformed today at the BT Paralympic World Cup.

"We are always building however it is very disappointing that we did not bring the result home that we should have.

"This is the second time the French team has beaten us and that should not have happened so hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for the GB team."

The day began with Germany's women dominating their match against Japan to win 62-46 before the Canadian men made their stake for the World Cup title with a 55-48 victory over tournament newcomers Brazil.

Canada's Patrick Anderson scored 26 points which was particularly impressive given that he has only just returned to international competition ahead of London 2012 following his retirement from the sport after the Beijing 2008 Games.

"The BT Paralympic World Cup is a great tournament," said Anderson.

"I haven't entered it in a couple of years but I remember it as being a lot of fun.

"The atmosphere today was great with the kids and the commentators."

Day two of the BT Paralympic World Cup will see the wheelchair basketball group stages continue as the Canadian men take on France before Britain's take o
n Germany.

The afternoon will then see Canada's women take on Japan before Britain's men face a must win game against Brazil.

With the team challenge BT Paralympic World Cup trophy on the horizon, wheelchair basketball is a crucial start to the competition as Britain take on teams from Europe, the Americas and the Rest of the World, the latter defending their title.

No points will be posted until wheelchair basketball finals day on Thursday (May 26) with athletics on Friday (May 27) and swimming on Saturday (May 28) adding to the scores to determine the overall winners.

The competition in Manchester will also see a sitting volleyball international match will be at the Regional Arena on Wednesday (May 25) and a boccia match on Thursday (May 26).

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