Morocco, Algeria, 1000 days, and Alec, oh my
02/12/2017
Steve Goldberg's Wheel World
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Morocco, Algeria, 1000 days, and Alec, oh my!

CHARLOTTE (Steve Goldberg's Wheel World) - Where to start? So much news, so little time. Let's go with A, for Africa and the final IWBF zonal qualifier, where Algeria's women and Morocco's men have claimed the final two slots for the IWBF World Championship next summer in Hamburg, Germany.

Algeria will come in with experience, following their accomplishment of becoming the first women's team from the continent to represent in the Paralympic Games when they traveled to Rio de Janeiro last year. The women in green and white jumped into the deep end of the pool in Rio, not winning a game but gaining invaluable experience.

After Zimbabwe rolled Kenya for the bronze medal, Algeria reiterated their place on the top of African wheelchair basketball doubling South Africa 53-25.

 It was a different story for Algeria's men, who also made the trip to Brazil, but who couldn't match Morocco's intensity on the day, watching the game get further and further away until it ended 63-32. Ria Maataoui led the victors with an impressive 24 points, 18 rebounds and 5 assists.

Egypt pipped South Africa for the continental bronze 53-50.

So that wraps up the qualification for Hamburg 2018. For the men, it's Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Iran, Italy, Japan, Korea, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Turkey, and the USA. The women's championship will include: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands, Spain, and the USA.

1000 Days

Mark your calendars. Hamburg may be the next big thing but Tokyo just told everyone that the 2020 Paralympic Games are a lot closer than we thought.

The first new permanent venue of the 2020 games, the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza was opened, featuring the arena that will host wheelchair basketball.

     The newly opened Musashino Forest Sports Plaza will host wheelchair basketball at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Photo courtesy of Tokyo 2020

"Tokyo 2020 will fulfill its promise and deliver a safe and successful Games that will leave a lasting legacy and benefits for everyone," said Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto. 

To celebrate, they brought in Canada's Pat Anderson who, along with promoting the countdown, partook in something I can only call Judobasket (see video below). Anderson scored two but his opponent got a point for the ippon.

NWBA on NBA on TNT

And finally, a gift in the form of NWBA junior player Alec Cabacungan who proved he could hold his own with Shaquille O'Neill, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson on live TV. The junior wheelchair basketball player from Chicago may have a career on the broadcast side of the game.

Nice game Alec.

Steve Goldberg

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

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Steve Goldberg

Steve Goldberg

Eight years after first getting a glimpse of wheelchair basketball at the 1988 Paralympics in Seoul when covering the Olympics for UPI, Steve Goldberg got the chance to really understand the game as Chief Press Officer for the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta. He's been a follower of the sport ever since. Over the years, the North Carolina-born and bred Tar Heel fan - but University of Georgia grad - has written on business, the economy, sports, and people for media including Time, USA Today, New York magazine, Reuters, Universal Sports, TNT, ESPN, New York Daily News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The Olympian. Steve Goldberg's Wheel World will look at the past, present and future of wheelchair basketball.