Friday, Inglis, Merritt and Vinci selected in Gliders Team for the 2019 Asia-Oceania Championships

WA’s Mary Friday, Georgia Inglis, Amber Merritt and Sarah Vinci have been selected in the Australian Gliders team for the 2019 International Wheelchair Basketball Federation Asia-Oceania Championships in Pattaya, Thailand, 27 November – 8 December.

The eight-team Championships sees the Gliders face off against seven other nations from the Asia-Oceania Zone (AOZ), as they look to build and improve on a ninth place finish at the 2018 World Championships, as they focus on qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

London Paralympic silver medallists Amber Merritt and Sarah Vinci form part of the experienced core with the duo hoping to help lead the Gliders to Tokyo next year, having missed qualifying for Rio.

The 12-member team is a mix of youth and experience as five players join the team having competed at the Unde 25 World Championships earlier this year, including Mary Friday.

Rounding out the WA contingent is the experienced Georgia Inglis, who competed at her Asia/Oceania Championships in 2013.

“We have a lot of young players coming through who will be making their first appearance at a major tournament for the Gliders, including five players that didn’t attend Worlds last year, and four that played for the Under-25 Devils team in May,” said Head Coach Stephen Charlton.

“I think we have a great spread of experience and youth throughout the different classifications and we’re balanced nicely with four players in each.

“We’re hoping this will give us some flexibility and allow us to remain fresh and keep up the work rate on the floor.”

All games will be streamed live on the IWBF YouTube channel here.