In what was the opening match in group A, defending champions America surged to victory over their Aussie counterparts, leading from the first period to the last to get their Championships off to the best possible start.

Rebecca Murray led from the front for the US team, scoring a match-high 30 points to secure the victory for her team.

"It gives us confidence," Murray said after the encounter.

"We knew Australia was higher than us so we were gonna have to bring our 'A' game out there.

"Basketball is a game of runs so everybody is going to have their runs and we just had to, the next defensive stab was going to be the stab we had to make in order for that run to stop so that was our mind set."

Despite the defeat, three of Australia's players hit double figures in terms of scoring with Amber Merritt taking the most baskets with a score of 14.

The tournament itself, the largest-ever Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championships, was opened by Great Britain who secured a 56-37 victory over Brazil in group B.

The British team raced to an early 16-6 lead in the opening quarter and, despite the Brazilians holding strong in the second, continued in much the same manner at the beginning of the third.

With stars Amy Conroy and Helen Freeman recording 14 and 20 points apiece, the Briton's ensured they moved into day two with at least the one win under their belts.

Canada delighted the home fans with an opening match win against Japan at the 2014 World Wheelchair Basketball Championships ©2014WWWBC



Canada, to the delight of the home crowds, opened their account with a win after an impressive 83-53 victory over Japan in group B.

Janet McLachlan had a double-double scoring 28 points and collecting 21 rebounds, while Katie Harnock added 25 points for Canada as the hosts ran rampage in their opening fixture.

Paralympic champions Germany got their group B campaign off to a winning start with a 59-45 victory over China.

Despite a slow start to the game, which saw just three points scored in five minutes, the London 2012 champions began to ramp up the heat, coming in at half time with a 34-19 lead.

The German's broke away again in the third as they increased their lead to 17 before continuing to push in the final period.

Top point-scorers in the match included Marina Mohnen who had a game-high 19 points and four assists, and Annika Zeyen who recorded 17 points.

Peru's World Championship debut was tainted in their opening match as they fell to an 89-5 defeat to the Netherlands.

The world number three ranked team were hugely impressive in the encounter with five players hitting double digits for the match.

In Pool A France came out hard on Friday defeating Mexico 61-42.

Right from first tip, France had the advantage and, led by Fabienne Saint Omer-Delepine's 10 points after the first half of play, took a 28-18 lead into the break.

In the second half the score came a little closer as Mexico began to dig deep, however, in the fourth quarter the French pulled away again, posting a lead as big as 22 points.

Saint Omer-Delepine finished the match with a game-high 26 points and 11 rebounds while Mexico's Floralia Estrada finished with a double-double of her own, posting 14 points and 10 rebounds.

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