Canada to battle Japan for wheelchair rugby bronze after loss in semis

Canada will not have the opportunity for wheelchair rugby redemption after falling to the United States 60-55 in Saturday's semifinal match. 

The defending Paralympic silver medallist Canadians got caught playing catch up as American Chuck Aoki put up a dominant 34-point performance.  

Canada will have to settle for a chance at bronze Sunday morning against Japan. (CBCSports.ca, 7:50 a.m. ET). Australia, who defeated Japan in the second semifinal, will face off against the U.S. for gold at noon ET.

Zak Madell, of Okotoks, Alta. had 31 points, while Cody Caldwell contributed seven. 

The Canadians have not been able to capture Paralympic gold but came close at the 2012 London Games, where they suffered a heart-breaking defeat to Australia in the final. 

"It's really disappointing," co-captain Patrice Dagenais said after the loss. "We worked so hard for a couple years to get ready for this tournament. Our ultimate goal was to win that gold medal and we came up short today against the U.S., but they played a good game. We've got to put this game behind us and try to win the bronze medal."

With the battle for third place set, forgetting the heartbreak is easier said than done. The Canadians knew the road would be tough, but they had high expectations for themselves, especially coming off a game where they took Australia to overtime for the first time in eight years.

"We can take the time to let this one soak in, but we have to refocus as fast as possible," Trevor Hirschfield said. "It's good to go over a game like that and see where the mistakes were so you can correct those going forward, but we don't want to dwell on that. We want to use this game to help prepare for tomorrow."

The wheelchair rugby bracket has become more competitive in the last few years and it is showing with all the close results throughout the Paralympics. Canada's semi-final loss was to the current number one seed in the world and Japan will be another heavyweight opponent meeting them in their final match.

A bronze medal would bump the streak of consecutive podium finishes for Canada at the Paralympic Games to four – they won silver in London, bronze in Beijing, and silver in Athens.