Japan's bid for wheelchair rugby gold at the Tokyo Paralympics ended Saturday with a 55-49 semifinal loss to Britain.
Reigning world champion Japan came into the semis undefeated following group-stage wins over France, Denmark and Australia but struggled to score freely against a tough British defense at Tokyo's Yoyogi National Gymnasium.
After leading 25-23 at halftime, the current European champion broke away in the third quarter to take a 42-33 advantage into the final change.
Jim Roberts led the way for Britain with 20 tries, while Daisuke Ikezaki top-scored for Japan with 13.
Britain will contest Sunday's final against the United States, which beat Australia 49-42 in the second semifinal. Japan will face Australia in the bronze medal playoff in a rematch of a group phase game which the host nation won 57-53.
A crestfallen Ikezaki said he had hoped to win gold to repay a Japanese public that had strongly supported the team amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"We knew the Japanese people had high expectations for us, and I really wanted to make them happy, but today, our best wasn't good enough," Ikezaki said.
"People went to so much effort to hold the Paralympics during this difficult coronavirus situation. But we couldn't meet expectations, and that's the really disappointing thing for me."
The 43-year-old, playing in his third Paralympics, credited Britain for its performance and said he would try to shift focus to Sunday's third-place playoff.
"Britain was much stronger than us. We really wanted to get the gold, but we can still get bronze," he said.
While Britain ensured a first-ever Paralympic wheelchair rugby medal with the semifinal victory, the mission is far from over, according to Roberts.
"We've got one game left. We didn't come here for second," he said.
The 33-year-old forward lauded a Japanese side that had dominated Britain in recent matchups, saying his team needed to do its homework to break a head-to-head losing streak.
"They are a class act and world champs for a reason," Roberts said. "In the last five or six years, we haven't beaten Japan. They've always turned up with a game plan that's beaten us."
"(We wanted) to make them push for every meter they had on the court. And I think we showed, with how low-scoring a game it was, that we were able to do that."
