POOLS DECIDED FOR 2018 IWBF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Australian Rollers and Gliders advanced to the World Championships last year through the AOZ Qualifiers with the Rollers finishing that tournament undefeated to claim the gold medal while the Gliders won the silver medal.

16 teams from four pools will compete for the World Championship in the men’s tournament with the Rollers going up against Argentina, Spain and the Netherlands as they aim to win a third straight title after success in 2010 and 2014.

Six players from that last Championship were a part of the Rollers’ AOZ Qualifiers team in Bill Latham, Shaun Norris, Tristan Knowles, Jannik Blair, Tom O’Neill-Thorne and Luke Pople while Knowles, Norris and Latham are three members of the side that will be going for personal three-peats.

Australia will have to be at their best to combat Spain, who finished fourth at last year’s World Championships before winning a silver medal at the Rio Paralympics while the Netherlands finished seventh at Rio and have won two silver medals at past World Champs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twelve teams across two pools make up the women’s draw with Australia pitted in Pool A alongside Canada, Spain, Great Britain, Brazil and the Netherlands.

The Gliders are out for redemption after missing the Rio Paralympics and should be one of the teams to beat in their group alongside Canada, who are the defending Champions, and the Netherlands who claimed bronze medals at the 2014 World Championships and 2016 Paralympics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for a full fixture announcement from the IWBF as well as team announcements and training schedules for the Rollers and Gliders.

Preparations are in full swing for the 2018 IWBF World Championships which will be held in Hamburg, Germany from August 16-26 with the announcement of the pools for the men’s and women’s tournaments.

Basketball Australia

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