Hopes of a Paralympic medal are now buried. The Blues of wheelchair basketball were unable to resist the American surge in the quarter-finals of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. Double defending champions, the Americans won the match by a wide margin (82-47).
Still in contact at the break (27-41), the French team, led by Christophe Carlier, Louis Hardouin and Nicolas Jouanserre (all three with 10 points or more), exploded in the third quarter (10-27) in the face of the transition game and the opponent's density. Jake Williams (23 points and 10 assists) and the muscular Brian Bell (20 points and 14 rebounds) showed the way for the Americans.
The latter, in addition to being much more skillful (51% against 36% for the French) have done a serious job on rebounds (48 to 31). Like this sequence in the middle of the third period where the American Jorge Salazar captured his offensive rebound… three times on the same possession before scoring under the circle.
A great atmosphere at Bercy all the same
“ We didn't want France to gain momentum. They are a very talented team that knows how to take advantage of their mistakes. “, notes American captain Steve Serio, struck by the atmosphere at the Arena de Bercy despite the home team's defeat: ” This is one of the rooms where I have had the most fun playing. »
The French wheelchair basketball team coached by Franck Bornerand is therefore eliminated from a competition where its victory counter is still stuck at zero. In the preliminary round, the Blues had successively lost against Canada (68-83), Germany (64-72) and Great Britain (50-85).
But the French are not hiding their pleasure, because their presence in itself is already a victory. Since Athens in 2004, the men's team had never qualified for the Paralympic Games. Back on this stage, after having secured their ticket through qualifying tournaments, the Blues, gold medalists in 1984, will seek to finish on a high note in Paris with a classification match tomorrow against the Netherlands.
The Americans will face Canada in the semi-finals. The other semi-final will pit Germany against Great Britain. France had three of the four semi-finalists in its group!
Photo: Reuters
