Rollers win Asia Oceania Championships and secure Tokyo qualification

The Rollers have continued their unbeaten run at the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation Asia-Oceania Championships claiming another title and securing qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games in the process.

After dropping their first ever game at the Championships against Japan in the pool stages The Rollers were back to their best in the finals stages securing their Tokyo ticket. In the quarterfinal they dominated Malaysia 92-40 to set up a semifinal against Iran.

The content against the number two ranked Iran, was closely matched in the first three quarters the no more than five points seperating the teams. A strong final quarter saw The Rollers take a comfortably win by 77-65 to win by 12.

In the final an aggressive start by The Rollers allowed them to open a 23-8 lead over Korea at the end of the first quarter. Having established the lead they continued this through the next two quarters locking down the defence to stop the Korean’s regaining control.

A strong final quarter by Korea where they outscored The Rollers was not enough to overcome Australia, as they secured the overall title

“We started well and we sat down after the Japan loss and we knew we needed to improve coming up against Iran, which we were ready to play with a 50 point turnaround from a couple of months ago. To quality for Tokyo is nice and really happy to keep the success in the AOZ tournament going but we look ahead now to how we can keep improving as a group,” said Norris

Rollers Captain Shaun Norris was named Most Valuable Player of the Tournament and was named in the All Star Five.