In the men’s competition, the Rollers breezed through their pool games with a 69-point win over Chinese Taipei, a 27-point win over Iran, a 71-point defeat of Saudi Arabia, an 80-point smashing of the Philippines and a 55-point win over Malaysia.
They then won every quarter in their Semi-Final against Japan with a 70-41 score-line. That victory officially assured them a place at Rio as three teams advanced from the men’s competition but their mission was not complete with a re-match against Iran in the gold medal playoff to come.
Leading by just four at three-quarter time, Australia powered away with a 29-15 final term to secure the gold medal and finish as AOZ Champions- the perfect lead-in to the 2016 Paralympics.
Tristan Knowles was the standout for the Rollers, averaging 16.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.9 assists. Bill Latham reached double-figures for points six times at an average of 10.7 a game while Brett Stibners (8.8 points a game) and Tom O’Neill-Thorne (5.4) were consistent throughout the tournament.
With the Rollers accruing big leads against most oppositions, they were able to give court time to the entire roster and were serviced by a true team performance that saw them finish the week undefeated.
With just one team from three competing countries advancing in the women’s tournament, Australia were pitted against Japan and China in two rounds of pool matches.
The Gliders proved too good for Japan, winning by 11 and 14 points respectively in their two clashes but faced a much tougher task against China, who defeated them in both meetings.
This set up a re-match against the Japanese with the winner advancing to play China in the gold medal playoff and the Gliders were once again successful, winning 69-49.
Australia threw everything they had at China in the final game, tying the scores at quarter-time. However, their opposition began to pull away as the match wore on, eventually earning a spot in Rio with a 59-43 victory.
For the Gliders, Amber Merritt was their most potent offensive weapon with 11.2 points and six rebounds a game while Cobi Crispin (10.7 points and 6.5 boards) was instrumental off the bench. Leanne Del Toso (seven points) and Kylie Gauci (6.2 points) also starred.
The Rollers will now be searching for a fourth straight medal at the Paralympics and a fifth medal overall since they won gold at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics.
They have also earned a silver medal in 2004 at Athens, gold at Beijing in 2008 and a second silver medal at the last Paralympics in London.
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