Five-time men’s finalists emphatically beaten as Canada’s women impress against Italy
TOKYO (OIS) – Five-time Paralympic men’s sitting volleyball finalists Bosnia and Herzegovina fell to defeat by RPC in their pool match at Makuhari Messe Hall A on Sunday, marking the possible end of an era in the sport.
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The Bosnian team has played in the gold-medal match against Iran in the past five Games, winning two of them, but they fell to a resounding 3-0 defeat against an impressive RPC side.
London 2012 and Athens 2004 champions Bosnia, who have several team members competing at their sixth Games, still have a chance to play for a medal if they can beat Japan on Tuesday.
However, even if they are successful in progressing, they would now be likely to face their Iranian rivals in the semifinals rather than the gold-medal match.
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Canada’s women clinched a crucial win against Italy that keeps them on track to play in their first Paralympic medal match.
“We’re not the team that’s the favourite to win, but we know that we can,” Heidi PETERS (CAN) said after the 3-1 victory, which followed a 3-2 defeat by Brazil in their first match.
“Every day in practice, we serve harder than (their opponents) at each other, so we know that nobody can do that back to us as hard as we do it ourselves.”
Brazil beat Japan 3-0 in the other women’s pool match of the day, while Japan’s men also suffered a 3-0 defeat by Egypt.