British women squeeze into final but men must go for bronze in Manchester

By Paul Eddison, Sportsbeat, in Manchester

GREAT Britain's women's wheelchair basketball team saw their unbeaten run come to an agonising end at the BT Paralympic World Cup in Manchester - but Caroline Maclean believes they will put things right in the final. 

POINTERS: Great Britain coach Garry Peel gives Caroline Maclean a few points at the BT Paralympic World Cup in Manchester (Action Images)

Having chalked up impressive victories against Canada and European champions Germany, Great Britain approached their final group match against Japan full of confidence but saw their early lead fritter away before going down to a 43-42 defeat. 

Maclean and co had chances to seal victory at the death but whereas in their two previous matches Great Britain were clinical in front of goal when it mattered, against Japan they were wayward and paid the price. 

But courtesy of their earlier victories, and the narrow margin of their defeat to Japan, Great Britain will still take their place in Thursday's final where they will face a rematch with either Germany or Japan. 

As the world silver medallists Germany would appear to represent the tougher test but Japan and Great Britain have history dating back to the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. 

It was Japan who knocked Great Britain out of Beijing 2008 and while Garry Peel's side exacted revenge at last year's World Championships in Birmingham, following today's defeat, Japan have once again seized the upper hand. 

But Maclean is convinced Great Britain will prove that their first defeat at the tournament was just a bad day at the office. 

"It was very hot out there," said 36-year-old Maclean, a veteran of three Paralympic Games.  

"Our aim was to get to the final so we've achieved that, but it is disappointing to have lost when you know you could have got three wins. 

"We know we could have won that game but unfortunately it wasn't to be. But hopefully we'll win in the final. 

"We know we can beat Germany and we know we can beat Japan as well, even if we fell just short today." 

Meanwhile, coach Peel believes Great Britain should have preserved their unbeaten record in Manchester. 

"After the first two days this was very disappointing," he said. "We should have beaten them by about ten or 12 points but we didn't finish it in the last quarter.  We couldn't buy a basket. 

"This team's growing and games like this come down to belief. I think we lost our focus a little at the end. We wanted to win and they wanted to win so badly but we tried too hard." 

Meanwhile, Great Britain men slumped to a disappointing 56-52 defeat to Canada, extinguishing any hopes of retaining their gold medal of a year ago. 

Terry Bywater, who joint top-scored with 12 points, blamed a poor shooting performance for the defeat. 

The Brits made a slow start to the match and looked out of it as the Canadians netted ten points without reply in the third quarter. 

However Great Britain showed their spirit as they moved back to within two points in the final minute, only to fall just short. 

"I don't believe we played a bad basketball game, I just think we shot poorly on the day," said Bywater. 

"In the first half I think we shot the ball at about 36 per cent and it's not like us as a team." 

The BT Paralympic World Cup is taking place in Manchester from 23-28 May with elite international athletes competing in Swimming, Athletics and Wheelchair Basketball. Go to www.btparalympicworldcup.com for more information

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