News / Sports

Iran wheelchair b-ballers suffer defeat against Britain

Saturday, 10 September 2016 1:16 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 10 September 2016 1:16 PM ]

This photo shows a view of the Group B wheelchair basketball match between Iran (players in white) and Great Britain at the preliminary round of the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 9, 2016.

The Iranian men’s national wheelchair basketball team has suffered its first loss at the preliminary round of the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

On Friday, the Iranian squad lost to the European team with a over two-dozen deficit in a Group B match staged at the Rio Olympic Arena.

The Iranian team had Mohammad Mohammadnejad, Esmaeil Hosseinpour, Vahid Gholamzad, Omid Hadi Azhar and Morteza Abed in its line-up.

The Iranian physically-challenged sportsmen took the game to the wire and sought to narrow the point difference, but eventually the British wheelchair basketball team managed to record an 84-60 victory.

Iran had earned a narrow victory over the German team on Thursday evening, getting past the Europeans 69-63.

The Iranians will take on counterparts from the United States in their third Group B match on Saturday.

The Islamic Republic of Iran National Paralympics Committee has dispatched a 111-strong delegation, dubbed the Mina Caravan, to the 12-day sporting event. Iranian sportsmen and women are in action in 12 different fields.

Iranian athletes have so far collected two medals — one gold and one silver — and the Islamic Republic is in the 20th slot of the medal count table.

China is on the top of the medal count table with 49 medals (20 golds, 17 silvers and 12 bronzes).

Great Britain has claimed the second spot with 27 medals (12 golds, six silvers, nine bronzes), and Ukraine is on the third with a total of 26 medals (seven golds, six silvers and 13 bronzes).

The United States, Brazil, Australia, Uzbekistan, Canada, South Korea and New Zealand have earned the 4th to 10th places respectively.

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