Wheelchair rugby rivals Batt and Madell predict hotly-contested tournament at Rio 2016
Ryley Batt of Australia and Zak Madell of Canada faced off in the finals of London 2012 and the 2014 world championship and will go head-to-head again in Rio
Batt of Australia and Madell of Canada will continue their on court rivalry at Rio 2016 (Photo: Getty Images/Shaun Botterill)
Two of wheelchair rugby’s biggest stars, Australia’s Ryley Batt and Zak Madell of Canada believe that the competition at Rio 2016 will be one of the most evenly-contested in the sport’s history.
And these two would know a lot about close competition. The pair have met each other twice in major competition finals in recent years. At the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Batt and Australia defeated Madell's Canadians to claim gold for the first time in their country’s wheelchair rugby history. Then at the world championship two years later, Australia once again came out on top to claim the title..
Buy tickets to the Paralympic Games
Australia and Canada are currently ranked second and fourth in the world respectively, but both sides, who have been drawn in the same group, know that once the Paralympic competition commences on 14 September, these rankings will count for very little.
The two sides will meet in the group stage on 16 September.
Batt of Australia, one of the best players the sport has ever seen, is embracing his team’s challenging draw, especially the opportunity to once again face Madell, who is known as the “smiling assassin” because of his ever-present wide grin.
Zak Madell in action for Canada at the London 2012 Paralympic Games (Photo: Getty Images/Mike Ehrmann)
“It is a tough draw, but we are happy with it because we will play some tough matches before the semi-finals,” Batt told the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). “We know his [Madell’s] game pretty well and we have three players of his function. There are so many good players around him because they are a champion team.”
Australia continued to be a thorn in the North American side at the Canada Cup this year, with the team from down under defeating them 54-43 in the round robin tournament and knocking them out of medal contention.
Ryley Batt held nothing back as he helped his country to a first Paralympic gold medal in wheelchair rugby (Photo: Getty Images/Shaun Botterill)
Meanwhile, the Australians may be flying high off the back of their second place finish at the Canada Cup but Batt and his team are not allowing themselves to get carried away. “It was good to knock off a couple of countries, but we know we can play better and we will work on those things,” Batt said.
Batt said that despite recent good form, it will be all about how all the teams approach the tournament at Rio 2016.
“I think every team will be strong come Rio and we cannot really measure our form off that (the Canada Cup) because everyone will be different (at Rio 2016)," he told the IPC.
Canada will begin their campaign for their first Paralympic gold against the hosts Brazil, while Australia will face Great Britain in the first match of the tournament, on 14 September at the Carioca Arena 1.
In total, eight nations will participate in the wheelchair rugby competition at Rio 2016: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Great Britain, Japan, Sweden and the USA, who are currently ranked world no.1.
Wheelchair rugby schedule for Rio 2016 pits Australia against Great Britain in opening game
