FIBA Basketball

Great Britain sends message with IWBF U25 World Championship for Women title

BEIJING (IWBF) - Great Britain's plan to become a serious and consistent contender for titles in women's wheelchair basketball took a huge step forward with a 44-35 gold medal victory over Australia in the

Hosts China took the bronze medal with a 61-53 win over Canada.

This was only the second edition of the U25 World Championship for Women, which was first contended in 2011 in St Catherines, Ontario, Canada and won by the USA with Australia taking silver and Great Britain bronze.

The tournament, which ran from 30 June-6 July, was played at the National Training Center in Beijing and hosted by the Chinese Administration of Sport for Persons with Disabilities (CASPD) and the National Paralympic Committee of China.

Also competing in the six-team tournament were Germany and Japan. The defending champions USA did not participate.

The championship game started out with both teams emphasizing defense with the Devils - as the junior Aussie team is known - leading a low-scoring first half 15-11. They scored just as much in the third quarter, 15 to 10 in favor of the European side to put Great Britain up 26-25. They pushed that lead further in the final quarter to win by nine.

Great Britain's Laurie Williams said: "We were struggling in the first half just to find our rhythm and play our basketball - obviously credit to the Australians; they put us off our style of how we play. But in the second half, we gained a bit more composure, stuck to our game plan, and knocked down some shots - and that really put us ahead."

Amy Conroy led the British effort with 19 points and 13 rebounds, with Jordanna Bartlette adding 13 points. Australia's Amber Merritt had 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Head coach Miles Thompson, who also leads the senior team, was more than pleased with the effort.

"I feel like the culmination of a lot of hard work has paid off, I feel that the group of young women that represent GB did it in the finest way," he said.

Thompson was not shy about setting his goal for the European Wheelchair Basketball Championship which will also serve to qualify teams for next year's Paralympic Games in Brazil. Great Britain will be the host team for the tournament in Worcester, UK that runs from 28 August-6 September.

"In terms of the upcoming senior European Championships, I feel that to win a World Championship at a U25 level really represents where this programme's headed and I wouldn't want to play us if I was one of the other senior European teams!"

In the Semi-Finals, Great Britain advanced with a 67-51 win over Canada, while Australia defeated China 46-38.

Great Britain went 5-0 in the preliminary round, including a 49-40 win over Australia on Day 2 of the event.

Great Britain's Conroy was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player and joined for all-tournament honours by teammates Williams and Bartlett, along with Mayo Hagino of Japan, Maude Jacques of Canada, and Merritt from Australia.

FIBA