The Paralympic champions had failed to secure the all-elusive gold medal in each of their past five attempts at the World Championships, taking bronze and silver in 2002 and 2010 respectively.

It was a different story in Denmark, however, as the "Steelers"out-classed Canada in almost a complete repeat of the London 2012 final.

The fixture was tense early on as Canada gained the early momentum to pull 5-3 ahead.

That lead cost the Canadians three valuable time-outs, however, as the Australians pulled the encounter level at 15-15 coming into the first break.

The Australians grew in confidence in the second quarter and pulled ahead to lead 32-27 at the halftime break.

Canada had burned through all their time-outs in the first half, allowing Australia to capitalise on every mistake and extend the margin to eight goals coming into the final charge.

The "Steelers" held their nerve in the final quarter, adding an additional three goals to record a comfortable 67-56 win and secure the gold medal.

Ryley Batt played every minute of the gold medal final to cap off a brilliant Championships for the Australian ©Brian Mouridsen/IWRF



"That's the last title ticked off the list, we have a Paralympic gold, Oceanic gold and now a World Championship gold and we are so proud of that," said Ryley Batt, who played every minute of the gold medal final.

"We knew they would come out strong, Canada can step up for any game and we saw that yesterday against the Americans when they played the best game I had ever seen them play."

"After the first quarter we were even but we knew deep down that we were fitter than them which definitely paid off in the end.

"The Australian Paralympic Committee, all the staff, the strength and conditioning, the coaches, and players just stepped up this whole tournament and we got the gold medal we were after."

Despite not securing the top prize, Canada's Zak Madell will travel home with the Most Valuable Player ward after a brilliant display throughout the Championships.

After their disappointing defeat yesterday, the United States bounced back to claim bronze with a 62-56 victory over Japan.

The victory ensured their 100 per cent medal success at the World Championships having won four golds and a silver since the tournament made its debut in 1995.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
August 2014: Overtime win sees Canada defeat US to set up final with Australia at Wheelchair Rugby World Championships
August 2014: Australia and the United States emerge unbeaten as semi-final line-up decided in Odense
August 2014: Canada scrape past Great Britain to remain unbeaten at Wheelchair Rugby World Championships
August 2014: Top seeds dominate at Wheelchair Rugby World Championships
August 2014: Top seeds secure convincing wins on day two of Wheelchair Rugby World Championships