Steelers rocked by upset loss to start their Paralympic defence

Denmark has blown open the wheelchair rugby draw at Tokyo 2020 after causing a sensational upset against Australia, the two-time defending Paralympic champions.

Their 54-53 victory saw the entire Denmark squad erupt in emotional scenes, as they recognised the magnitude of defeating the Steelers – a team that has contested every Paralympic and World Championship gold medal match since 2008.

On the day his team made their Paralympic debut in the sport, Denmark captain Leon Joergensen could not contain his euphoria.

“I’m so happy, I can’t express it. I can’t even imagine that we’d beat the Paralympic champions,” he said.

Entering the final quarter down 39-38, Australia’s key line-up of Ryley Batt, Chris Bond, Ben Fawcett and Mick Ozanne had their chance to clinch the game in the dying stages.

But mistakes and the lack of composure that come with a disrupted preparation brought on COVID, border closures and the inability to hold training camps together as a team proved telling. Both Australian head coach Brad Dubberley and captain Ryley Batt acknowledged that fact post-match.

“I really feel for our players and for everyone back home because you know we’re having a fair crack and we just haven’t had the time together, and so I am really feeling for the group,” Dubberley said.

“Denmark played really well, but for us, we were just rusty. This is the first competitive game we’ve played since February last year.”

“Denmark was better on the day so makes it hard for the rest of our tournament but, you know, we’ll just have to regroup and see what we can do against France.

“We’re just going to try and control our own destiny from here on.”

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Denmark, ranked seventh in the world, has now caused chaos for the Australians in pool A. With a tough assignment on Thursday against France (ranked six), the Steelers’ final pool game against world number two Japan – already highly anticipated – now looks like it will be do-or-die.

Less than 24 hours since proudly carrying the Australian flag in the Tokyo 2020 Opening Ceremony with co-captain Danni Di Toro, Batt was adamant that the Steelers will bounce back to be a force at this tournament.

“Definitely confident we can win the gold. I think you need times like this in sport. I have had some big losses in my career, but we’ve also had some very successful Paralympic campaigns as well. We know what it takes,” Batt said.

“So we’re going to wear this loss, but I think this is going to make us more focussed. We’re going to be a better team against France, I can promise that.”

Batt scored 24 tries to lead the Australian offence with Chris Bond (17 tries), while Andrew Edmondson (seven), Jayden Warn (two) and Andrew Harrison (one) also scored. Shae Graham, Australia’s first representative in wheelchair rugby, did not get her chance to debut today and will now look to France tomorrow at 6:30pm AEST.

Watch the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games live and free on Seven and 7plus from August 24 – September 5.

By: Paralympics Australia
Posted: 25 August 2021