Canada claims silver at wheelchair rugby Canada Cup, falling just short against Japan in OT

Canada fell just short of gold at the wheelchair rugby Canada Cup with a 57-56 overtime loss to world No. 2 Japan in the final on Sunday in Richmond, B.C.

The Canadians, ranked fifth in the world, returned to the podium for the first time since 2014 after going 5-0 in round-robin play en route to their silver medal at the Richmond Oval.

''It's great to see we are right in there right now,'' said three-time Canadian Paralympian Trevor Hirschfield. ''Playing a tight game against Japan, especially with the world championships later this year is promising. Hats off to the guys, a great week.''

Hirschfield forced the overtime when he completed a three-way passing play at the buzzer to tie the score 52-52. With only 12 seconds left in regulation, Mike Whitehead hustled down the court, tossed the ball to Zak Madell who found Hirschfield parked on the goal line.

WATCH l Replay of gold-medal match between Canada, Japan:

The hard-hitting Japanese had first possession in overtime and grabbed a 53-52 lead. The teams exchanged points the rest of the way and Canada ran out of time in its bid to send the game to a second overtime.

''Today we saw the Japanese team we are used to,'' said Hirschfield. ''They were fast and they hit hard. In the preliminary game they had an unusual slow start and we feasted on that.

''So it was a tough loss for us in the final.''

The Canadians were looking to win their first ever gold medal in nine editions of the Canada Cup tournament, which is considered one of the biggest in the sport outside of the Paralympic Games and world championships. They were fourth at the last two editions in 2016 and 2018 and have now won four silver medals overall.

Catch up with wheelchair rugby co-captain <a