The second annual 2020 King Power Quad Nations was held on February 21-23, 2020 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester with the Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Trophy at stake.
The round-robin style tournament saw European Champions Great Britain, the USA, who are Parapan American Games Champions and the number two ranked team, and the number one ranked team, Australia competing to determine the line-up for the gold and bronze medal matches.
The BBC covered all three days of the Wheelchair Rugby Quad Nations on the BBC Sport website and app, Connected TVs and on the BBC iPlayer, where you could also catch-up on the event shortly after each broadcast.
In the Bronze Final, Great Britain beat Australia 61-53 to set up the Gold Medal Final with the USA facing Great Britain. The USA emerged with Gold after a 53-42 win.
Gold Final Recap
The USA jumped out to a lead after creating turnovers in defense and exploding for a four-point lead midway through the first quarter. A key turnover allowed Great Britain to cut the lead to 13-11 at the end of quarter one. Great Britain relied on Aaron Phipps to mount their attack, while the USA’s attack was spread out among several players.
Great Britain forced another USA turnover with Phipps cutting the lead to within one early in the second quarter. The USA did not only rely on Chuck Aoki, who was stellar during the first quarter. Kory Puderbaugh and Josh Wheeler picked up the scoring attack with their teammates defending well. Kudos to Joe Delagrave and Jeff Butler.
With two minutes remaining before the half, the USA led by four points. Chuck Aoki entered the later stages of the quarter and his leadership was evident. At halftime, the score was USA 26-21 Great Britain.
The USA used pressure defense early in the third quarter to make Great Britain work physically and mentally for every point and extended the lead to sevens points midway in the quarter. Chuck Melton created a turnover by Chuck Melton on Phipps and pushed the lead to eight points. That’s the way the lead would be as Chuck Aoki worked the clock before scoring the final point with 4 seconds left to lead 39-31 after quarter three.
James Gumbert was able to use different combinations during the match with a substantial lead entering the final quarter. Great Britain also made substitutions but concentrated on scoring points. The USA employed a passing attack and their defense created turnovers. With their foot on the gas, the USA emerged with the gold medal after a 53-42 win for the Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Trophy.
The USA went undefeated in the competition.
Wheelchair Quad Nations Schedule – All Times GMT
Friday 21 February
- USA 54-42 Australia
- Great Britain 64-65 USA – 4x OT
- Great Britain 58-46 Australia
Saturday 22 February
- Australia 51-57 USA
- Australia 58-57 Great Britain
- USA 55-50 Great Britain
Sunday 23 February
- Bronze Final: Australia 53-61 Great Britain
- Final: USA 53-42 Great Britain
Teams
Great Britain: Chris Ryan (Captain), Ayaz Bhuta, Jonathan Coggan, Ryan Cowling, Nicholas Cummins, Aaron Phipps, Jim Roberts, Stuart Robinson, Jamie Stead, Gavin Walker
USA: Chuck Aoki, Jeff Butler, Jake Daily, Joe Delagrave, Lee Fredette, Ray Hennagir, Joe Jackson, Chuck Melton, Eric Newby, Kory Puderbaugh, Adam Scaturro, Josh Wheeler
Australia: TBA
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