Wheelchair rugby star Ryley Batt is refusing to be down on himself after Australia’s quest for a Paralympic gold medal ended in a heartbreaking 52-51 overtime loss to Japan.
Australia will face Great Britain in the bronze medal match after two late errors helped Japan edge through to the final at Paris’s Champs de Mars Arena.
Tied 47-47 with 43 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Australia sought to run down the clock and even took a timeout.
Providing the Steelers had scored in the final seconds of the match, the Japanese would have had little time to attempt to cross for a try.
But the Steelers lost possession as they went looking for a match-winner and while Japan couldn’t convert then, they had no such issues profiting from Australia’s errors in overtime.
Searching for a killer ball, Batt’s pass was picked off by Japan’s Yukinobu Ibe, whose try effectively ended Australia’s hopes of qualifying for the gold medal match.
“We should have scored the goal, but we know what Japan are capable of with their function and their speed,” Batt said.
“I made that pretty silly mistake. I can't change it now, you can’t turn back time.
“It’s very hard to pick yourself up (in overtime), because we (know we) should have won in regular time.
“I went to make that pass to Bondy (Chris Bond) and it just fell out of my hand with the sweat… that's what sucks.”
Batt said the Steelers, who finshed fourth at the last Paralympics, couldn’t dwell on their loss with their bronze medal match on Monday (9.30pm AEDT).
"I'm not going to sit here and bash myself up and say you've lost it,” Batt said.
“I'm going to go hard to bronze tomorrow, and do the best there and come home with something.”
