By Gary Anderson

The big guns of Australia and the United States are conducting final preparations ahead of the Wheelchair Rugby World Championships ©Getty Images As the clock ticks down to the start of the Wheelchair Rugby World Championships, the teams are conducting final preparations before tip-off, including reigning champions the United States, who are looking for a fifth world title, and Paralympic champions Australia, seeking their first.

With the Championships in Odense, Denmark, due to begin on Tuesday (August 5), 12 nations will do battle and US co-captain Andy Cohn has revealed he and his team mates are determined to secure a fifth world crown.

"All of the players share the desire to play to the best of our abilities no matter the tournament, said Cohn, a veteran of four World Championship campaigns.

"It is an honour to represent Team USA and we train with the goal of winning every tournament we go to no matter where and when it is.

"All of us have been intensely training, so we hope that hard work will translate to a positive performance on the court.

"We are a young team minus an old guy or two like me and we are still working to reach our potential.

"We are a work in progress and know that the World Championships offers us an opportunity to get better so we are anticipating it."

Cohn has three world titles to his name with the last coming four years ago in Vancouver, Canada when the US overcame Australia 57-45 in the final.

Australia got over that disappointment by going on to claim gold at London 2012 and Cohn knows they will present a big challenge in Odense again, but also acknowledges that there will be no easy games at the Arena Fyn.

"Australia really is playing great but the sport has spread and globalised so much that there are multiple teams with great players that present a challenge," he said.

Andy Cohn has his eyes on delivering a fifth world title for the United States in Odense ©Getty Images Andy Cohn has his eyes on delivering a fifth world title for the United States in Odense
©Getty Images



For their part, the Australians have eyes on completing a full set of titles, as they added the Canada Cup to the Paralympic win last month.

Naz Erdem will also be appearing in his fifth World Championships and says confidence in the squad is high as they seek to win an elusive first world crown.

"Our confidence is quite high and the whole atmosphere around the team is really fantastic," said Erdem.

"We have a great bunch of guys working really well together and some new line-ups that we have been practicing that we haven't used in major competitions before which will be a first for us.

"Our preparation has been going well, we have had a few competitions in the last month or so including the Canada Cup where we finished first which was great for us.

"We also just recently took two Australian teams over to the New Zealand nationals and both teams made it to the final and played each other.

"We haven't ever won one [a World Championships] so we have been working harder to get everything right and put ourselves in the best possible position."

Naz Erdem (right) and team mate Ryley Batt will be looking to add a first World Championship win to their London 2012 title ©Getty Images Naz Erdem (right) and team mate Ryley Batt will be looking to add a first World Championship win to their London 2012 title ©Getty Images



Erdem and his compatriots have been drawn in Pool A alongside Canada in a repeat of the final from London 2012 and they are joined by Denmark, Belgium, Great Britain and Finland.

The US will headline Group B where their toughest challenge is likely to come from European champions Sweden, along with Japan, France, Germany and New Zealand.

Canada are the only other side to have claimed a world title winning in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2002.

The Championships in Odense are due to conclude on August 10. 

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