The Australian Steelers are one win away from back-to-back Paralympic gold medals.
The Steelers were faced with the task of defeating Japan in the semi-final to book a place against the USA in the gold medal match and did so, defeating Japan 63-57.
After a hard fought overtime victory over Canada in the final pool match on Saturday to top the pool, Australian captain Ryan Scott was thrilled with his side’s efforts secure their fourth win of the tournament.
“This is everything that we wanted. If you told me at the start of the Games that we would get this chance, I would have been so happy,” Scott said.
“Some people might say there was an asterisk next to our London 2012 win because we didn’t beat the USA, but I don’t believe that, because we beat everyone in front of us.
“We now just really want to get out there, we really want to face the USA and we want to prove everyone wrong. We can beat them.”
Australia has eight players that won gold four years ago, but with some young stars coming through, Scott is expecting a tough battle against the USA.
“We have four guys who have never played a Paralympic final, so we’re trying to see this as a new team, we’re not thinking about past performances. Tomorrow is the game that matters now,” Scott said.
“We’re trying not to think about London too much. To be honest, we’re probably thinking about Beijing more. The guys that were there know how hard it is and how much it hurts to lose it. We don’t want that feeling again.”
The Steelers will play Team USA in the final tomorrow at 1am Monday AEST.
