(Beijing, January 21) In the second round of the "Good Luck Beijing" 2008 Wheelchair Basketball International Invitational Tournament today, the Japanese women's team beat its Canadian counterpart 52-42. During the match, the in-form Japan launched fierce attacks against Canada in the first half and maintained their lead in the second until they wrapped up the victory by 10 points.

It was a close match between two strong teams, which would also count in group rankings. Canada was the second runners-up at the 2006 World Championships, while Japan placed sixth. In the first round of competition yesterday, Japan had beat China, while Canada lost to Germany in the overtime.

For the first five minutes of the first quarter the two teams were well matched. Then Japan led 9-8 and went on to take this quarter 20-16. In the second quarter, Japan was still superior to Canada with their attacks and led 34-24 at halftime.

In spite of trailing 10 points at halftime Canada managed to control the situation in the third quarter, gaining the edge for the first five minutes and narrowing the gap 29-36. However, in the following five minutes, Japan came back to extend their lead 41-32 before entering the fourth quarter.

Five minutes into the last quarter, Canada rallied to make the score 37-43 and narrowed the gap to 3 points. But one minute before the end of the match Japan widened the gap to 5 and basically secured their victory. Eventually, Japan won 52-42.

With its victory over Canada the Japanese women's team came atop with two straight wins, followed by Germany with one win.