"It hurts": Great Britain take Paralympic Games silver in men's wheelchair basketball
Great Britain's Men's Wheelchair Basketball team have taken silver at the Paralympics, their best result in almost three decades.
They were narrowly beaten 73-69 at the hands of the defending Paralympic champions USA in the final on Saturday 7 September.
Bill Johnson’s British side had had impressed on their route to the final, played in front of a crowd of 20,000 at Bercy Arena.
Silver represents the team's best result since they lost in a final to Australia 28 years ago.
Terry Bywater, from Redcar, claimed his first silver medal in the event, having won four Paralympic bronze medals in the seven games he has competed in.
His three pointer in the final moments of the final quarter put Great Britain within touching distance, but it wasn't to be.
Following the result, he said: "It hurts. We just got beaten by the better team on the day, they were fantastic. We had such a fantastic tournament, the boys stuck together, but getting beaten by four points in a final, it's going to hurt.
"They made some big shots down the stretch, they have a lot of experience in these finals and it's the first time we've been there in many years. I'm so proud of the boys.”
His teammate Phil Pratt, from Cardiff, said: "It's tough. They are a hell of a team and Steve Serio was incredible, he's one of the greatest to ever play the game. We challenged him to shoot and he came out firing.
"We stuck to our gameplan but they were the better team. It doesn't change anything, the work that's gone into this, the legends of the game paving the way and giving us this platform to express ourselves, I am proud of our guys. USA were the better team, hats off to them. It sucks but we’ll be back.”
The closing ceremony for the 2024 Paralympic Games will take place at the Stade De France from 7pm UK time on Sunday 8 September 2024.
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