Gliders Finish Sixth in World Champs Campaign

The Australian Gliders have ended their Wheelchair Basketball World Championship campaign with a 77-70 overtime loss to Great Britain to finish in sixth place.

Despite the loss, WAIS athlete and Gliders star Amber Merritt, finished the game with her third 25-plus point outing of the tournament, posting a game-high 32 points on a remarkable 16-of-20 shooting from the field.

The 21-year-old Western Australian was the standout for the Gliders, adding seven rebounds to her 32-point haul to finish the tournament as the team’s leading scorer at more than 15 points per game.

Merritt was joined in the Gliders’ squad by fellow WAIS scholarship holders Clare Nott and Sarah Vinci, with Nott also enjoying a productive night with 10 points for Australia.

Coming off a hard-fought win over China to secure a berth in the fifth/sixth playoff, the Gliders and Great Britain went toe-to-toe in four brilliant quarters of wheelchair basketball, with nothing separating the sides at the end of 40 minutes.

The tied score led to the Gliders heading into overtime for the first occasion in the tournament, with the GB finding another gear during this period to take the 77-70 win.

The men’s team begin their World Championship campaign in South Korea

-BasketballAus