Canada Loses To Japan 1-3 In Paralympic Sledge Hockey Semifinal

by Yuliya Talmazan | March 18, 2010 at 04:26 pm

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Canada's Run For Sledge Hockey Gold Over

Canada lost to Japan 1-3 in sledge hockey semifinal at UBC Thunderbird arena on Thursday. Canada was favoured to win the gold medal, but is now out of contention. Japan advances into the finals, where it will face the winner of the second semifinal between Norway and USA that will take place later today. Canada's loss means no repeat of the dramatic Olympic Canada-USA ice hockey final. Canada's men's Olympic team won the final game in overtime 3-2 over team USA on February 28.

Canada Wins Gold with 3-2 Overtime Win Over USA in Men's Hockey

Should Norway advance into the finals later tonight, hockey fans will still have a chance to see Canada and USA battle it out for the bronze medal on Friday.

Daisuke Uehara worked a perfect give-and-go on a two-on-one with Kazuhiro Takahashi before firing a shot high above Canadian goalie Paul Rosen at 13:47 of the third period

Japan's victory over Canada took many fans by surprise. Team Japan's coach admitted his astonishment saying, "if we played (Canada) 1,000 times, we’re going to lose 999." Today's victory over Canada is Japan's best result in Paralympic sledge hockey.

Canada Devastated

Canadians won gold medal in 2006 in Torino, but the loss to Japan on home soil was devastating for the team.