Men’s wheelchair basketball team off to a flyer with big Algeria win

Paralympic debutant Ben Fox admitted he had a tear in his eye as ParalympicGB’s men’s wheelchair basketballers stormed their way to a convincing opening victory over Algeria in Group B.

ParalympicsGB were in control from the word go, dominating the first and second quarters to enter half-time 33-21 ahead, and things went from bad to worse for Algeria, who conceded 21 points in the third quarter.

The 70-43 win was the ideal start to Great Britain’s Tokyo 2020 campaign and sets them up well for tomorrow’s clash against Germany.

Fox said: “It was an emotional feeling, there was a bit of a tear in my eye when the national anthems were playing.

“It’s just an incredible feeling and thank you to Japan and Tokyo for being so welcoming and putting on a great Games.

“Tomorrow’s going to be a different challenge because Germany looked strong in a close loss against the USA this morning.

“It was a super proud moment for myself and for my family as well who are at home, up early and supporting the team.”

Gaz Choudhry and Terry Bywater shared the title of top points scorer with 11 apiece, while Bywater almost notched a double-double in his 20 minutes of action after dominating the assists ranking with a total of nine.

The first quarter was all ParalympicsGB, with Gregg Warburton and Choudhry linking up well to help establish a 19-12 advantage.

Algeria were far from a beaten side though and they showed grit and determination to stay within five points for much of the second quarter.

However, they came undone in the third as Choudhry continued to dominate the court, scoring seven points during an impressive quarter to put the result beyond doubt at 54-31.

Algeria’s defence stiffened in the fourth quarter but it wasn’t enough to stop ParalympicsGB securing a 70-43 triumph.