5 wheelchair basketball athletes named in Aussie squads

Three NSWIS male athletes and two female athletes are set to represent Australia on the world stage at the upcoming International Wheelchair Basketball Federation events in China.

Luke Pople, Brett Stibners and Michael Auprince have been named in the Australian Rollers team ahead of the IWBF Asia Oceania Qualification (AOZ) tournament to be held in Beijing, China from October 20-28. 14 nations will compete for qualification through to the 2018 IWBF World Championship in Hamburg in August 2018 but only four teams will advance. Host nation China are expected to put up a strong fight on home soil while long-term AOZ rivals Japan, Korea & Iran will also provide strong opposition for the Rollers. The Rollers have their final preparation camp in Canberra at Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence from October 16-20 before heading to Beijing with their first game on October 23.

Hannah Dodd and Georgia Munro-Cook are to be part of the Australian Gliders squad that will compete at the 2017 IWBF Qualifiers tournament in Beijing, China from October 21-29. The final team of 12 players will take on China, Japan and Iran with the top two teams qualifying for the World Championships in Hamburg in August, 2018. The Gliders depart for Beijing and the AOZ Qualifiers on October 20 with competition kicking off on October 23 before the medal and qualification games are held on Saturday, October 28.

The Australian Rollers Schedule for the 2017 IWBF AOZ Qualifiers (all times AEST):

October 23: Rollers vs. Iraq at 6pm
October 24: Rollers vs. Chinese Taipei at 4.15pm
October 26: Quarter-Finals
October 27: Semi-Finals
October 28: Bronze and Gold medal games

The Australian Gliders Schedule for the 2017 IWBF AOZ Qualifiers (all times AEST):

October 23: Gliders vs. China at 3.45pm
October 24: Gliders vs. Japan at 1.00pm
October 25: Gliders vs. Iran at 5.30pm
October 26: Semi-Finals
October 27: Bronze and Gold Medal Games