Rio Paralympics: Rwanda face Canada in 7th place playoff

Classification matchesThursdayPosition 7-8Canada vs Rwanda 6:30pm Position 5-6Netherlands vs Iran 8:30pm Semi-final 1Ukraine vs China 11:30pm FridaySemi-final 2Brazil vs USA 1:30am Rwanda national women sitting volleyball team will today face Canada in the seventh and eighth position classification match at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games that are taking place at Riocentro Pavilion 6. Debutants Rwanda lost all its three Group B games against defending champions and three-time Paralympic gold medalists China, three-time silver medalists United States of America and 2015 Para Volley Asia-Oceania silver medalist Iran, hence finishing at the bottom of table with no point. Peter Karreman’s team will hoping to get something to cheer for going for when they take on the 2015 Paravolley American Games bronze medalist Canada, who also finished bottom of Group A. Canada also lost their three games against hosts Brazil, Ukraine and the Netherlands. “We hope we can beat Canada and finish with a win, we lost our group stage games but not because we were unlucky but our opponents were better in all aspects,” said the team assistant coach Jean Marie Nsengiyumva. He noted that: “With Canada, I think they are not as strong as the teams we faced in our group, so we hope we can beat them and take seventh place.” In the fifth and six place classification match, Iran, who finished third in Group B, will lock horns with Netherlands, who also finished third in Group A. Netherlands came into the Games replacing Russia that was disqualified by International Paralympic Committee over doping among its athletes. Meanwhile, in the first semi-final game, gold medal favorites China face-off Ukraine seeking a fourth consecutive title while the second semi-final will pit hosts Brazil against medal hopefuls USA in the early hours of Friday morning, starting at 1:30am local time. The bronze medal and gold medal matches are scheduled for Saturday. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

Latest News

Rio Paralympics: Rwanda face Canada in 7th place playoff