IWBF - First time Gold for Great Britain at World Championship

It was third time lucky for Great Britain men’s team, as they won the gold for the first time at an official World Championships after they defeated Paralympic Gold medallists USA in the final 79-62, in the final of the 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships.

This was the third time that the USA and Great Britain had met in the final of the World’s, back in 1994 and 2002, both times USA coming out on top. This time it was Great Britain that took their revenge and overturned the undefeated USA team in Hamburg, Germany.

There was nothing between the teams in the first half, as Great Britain held a slender five-point lead going into the break. In the second half the momentum stuck with Great Britain, and USA’s Head Coach, Ron Lykins searched for a rotation to match up with GB as they extended their lead in the third quarter, but it was to no avail and Great Britain grew with confidence and secured the victory by 17 points.

Great Britain Head Coach, Haj Bhania, said, “We’ve been waiting a long time for this. It is a dream come true. We know that the USA has a fantastic team and are always hard to overcome, but our boys believed in themselves. We are World Champions for the first time ever and will certainly celebrate this.