The fifth- and sixth-ranked teams from group A and group B in the Men's Wheelchair Basketball preliminary round will begin their battle for places nine through 12 in the Men's classification matches on Friday, September 12 at the National Indoor Stadium.
Brazil (5th place in group B) vs. South Africa (6th place in group A)
Brazil's defeat of China on Thursday lifted its preliminary record to 1-4. The team already lost to Great Britain, Australia, the United States and Israel.
Following Brazil's win over China on Thursday, guard Nilton Pessoa said the team's goal in the tournament is ninth place.
South Africa finished 1-4 in its preliminary matches, winning against Sweden but losing to Canada, Iran, Germany and Japan.
Richard Nortje of South Africa sits seventh in tournament scoring and sixth in rebounding, with an average of 17.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Teammate Nicholas Taylor averages 15 points and 3.2 assists per game.
Sweden (5th place in group A) vs. China (6th place in group B)
Sweden finished 1-4 after its preliminary matches, beating Japan but dropping games to Canada, Iran, Germany and South Africa.
Although Sweden is out of the medal race, guard Enoch Ablorh said his team realizes it has improvements to make in the tournament. "We just need to be consistent, and we haven't been consistent," Ablorh said Thursday.
China was the only winless Men's team in preliminaries, with a record of 0-5.
Centre Ding Hai is the only Chinese player with a points-per-game average in the double digits (12.6), which is more than double the average of any of his teammates.
Competition Format:
The winners of each classification match will compete for ninth and 10th place on Tuesday, September 16, at the National Indoor Stadium. The losers of classification games will compete for 11th and 12th place on Sunday, September 14, also at the National Indoor Stadium.
(BOCOG September 12, 2008)