Gliders Edged in Six Match Series with Germany

The Australian Gliders went down 4-2 in its six match series with world number two Germany in Canberra recently.

The warm-up series formed a crucial part of Australia’s preparations for August’s IWBF World Championships in Hamburg where the team is seeking to reassert itself as a force.

After winning a silver medal at the 2012 London Paralympics, the Australian women’s team fell off pace internationally, missing out on qualification for the 2016 Paralympics in Rio.

In Hamburg, the Gliders will be pitted against; Canada, Spain, Great Britain, Brazil and the Netherlands in Group A.

Four Western Australian athletes featured in coach David Gould’s Gliders team with 2012 Paralympic medallists; Clare Nott, Amber Merritt and Sarah Vinci joined by Georgia Inglis.

Having lost the opening match of the series, the Gliders levelled the series at a game apiece in the second clash, before falling to defeat in the next three matches.

The girls managed to close out the series on a high however, recording a 54-37 win in the sixth match to build momentum towards this year’s major competition.

In the National Wheelchair Basketball League:

WAIS program head coach Brad Ness demonstrated that he has lost none of his competitive wares since retiring from the international game, earning player of the week honours for round five with a star role in the Red Dust Heelers’ clean sweep over WA rivals the Perth Wheelcats.

On Friday night, Ness hit 23 points in the Heelers’ 84-58 win before backing that effort up with a triple-double in Saturday’s much tighter 91-88 win.

Ness hit another 20 points in Sunday’s third and final clash, which the Heelers won 81-79 to put themselves in the top four and in strong contention for a finals berth.