Argentina secure key Wheelchair Rugby win

Argentina's run to the semi finals of Rugby World Cup 2007 was one of the enduring moments of the tournament, but the country now has another national team to get behind after their qualification for the 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships in Canada.

The Argentines hosted the first ever Americas Zone Wheelchair Rugby Championship in Buenos Aires, with Olympic champions USA, bronze medallists Canada and Brazil also taking part.

USA and Canada are already bound for the World Championships in Vancouver next September, leaving Brazil and Argentina to battle it out at the Romero Brest Institute for the other spot from the Americas.

Argentina had won two of the three matches between the South American nations in the last year, but a tight 43-41 victory in the round robin for Brazil evened up that record and promised an equally tight affair on the final day on Saturday to determine the qualifier.

Once more the match lived up to tournament organiser Juan Foa's prediction of "real battles" with Argentina this time emerging 46-43 winners on a day which also saw the Olympic champions overpower Canada 73-26 in the final.

Argentina, USA and hosts Canada be joined at the World Championship by six European sides following their own zone qualifier last month in Denmark, which saw Belgium beat Sweden 49-46 in the final. Germany, Great Britain, Poland and Finland also qualified.

Christchurch challenge

The Asia-Oceania Zone Championship kicked off in Christchurch, New Zealand on Wednesday to determine the remaining three teams bound for Vancouver with the hosts, Olympic silver medallists Australia, Japan, Korea and South Africa in action.

New Zealand and Australia both opened their campaigns with victories, the Wheel Blacks "blowing the dust off" in comfortably beating South Africa 51-17 before Australia beat Korea 67-33.

The tournament continues all week with the medal games taking place on Sunday.

Wheelchair Rugby is a fast-growing sport now enjoyed in more than 20 nations around the world. It is played indoors on a basketball court and a match consists of four quarters of eight minutes with four players on court at any one time.

Each player is classified in one of seven classes between 0.5 and 3.5 points depending on their functional ability and no team can field a quartet of players with more than eight points on the court at any one time.

The object of the game is to cross the opposing team's goal line with both wheels and in control of the ball, which is the same size and shape of a volleyball. The ball can be carried on the lap, but must be passed or bounced at least once every 10 seconds.

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