RICHMOND, B.C. — The host Canadian squad squad split their two matches on Friday at the 2016 Canada Cup international wheelchair rugby tournament after being upset by Japan 57-55 in evening play.
It was Canada's first loss to third-ranked Japan at a major international wheelchair rugby tournament. The Canadians, ranked No. 1 in the world, dropped to 2-1 and trail No. 2 United States (3-0) in the standings.
Canada held a narrow 30-29 lead at halftime but made some costly mental errors to trail 47-45 to start the fourth quarter.
Head coach Kevin Orr said the loss will be a learning tool as Canada prepares for this summer's Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.
"For us to win in Rio, we need to see what works and what doesn't," said Orr. "Obviously we tried some things that didn't work, and that ended up costing us the game."
Earlier in the day Canada downed No. 5 Great Britain 47-44 at the seven-nation event being held at the Richmond Olympic Oval.
The Canadians, led by some hard hits from Zak Madell, were ahead 15-11 after the first quarter. Britain battled back to tie the score with just over six minutes remaining.
Canada was able to capitalize on turnovers created by Madell and Trevor Hirschfield. Madell scored with just 56 remaining for the victory.
"We knew that they'd be a tough, tenacious team," said Orr. "They didn't give up, and they capitalized on our mental lapses.
Canada plays No. 14 Switzerland and No. 4 Australia on Saturday, then wraps up the tournament Sunday against the Americans.
Under the tournament's round-robin format, Canada can still win the gold medal if they beat both Australia and the U.S.
In other games Friday, the U.S. defeated Australia 60-56 in the morning, then beat Japan 58-53 in the afternoon.
Australia is tied with Canada at 2-1. Sweden, Great Britain and Japan are 1-2 while Switzerland is 0-2.
In other action, Great Britain scored with .03 left on the clock to defeat Sweden 48-47. It was a tough day for Switzerland, which lost 53-38 to Sweden then were beaten 61-42 by Australia.
