Wollongong’s Knowles and Stibners in Australian Rollers’ bronze win
The Australian Men's (Rollers) and Women's (Gliders) Wheelchair Basketball teams have both won bronze medals at the 2010 BT Paralympic World Cup, which was staged in Manchester, England. Wollongong’s Tristan Knowles and Brett Stibners were in the Australian Men’s team.
 
PHOTOS: Three of the younger members of the Australian Men's Wheelchair Basketball team (Rollers) from the series against Canada in 2009; Bill Latham, Brett Stibners (top) and Tristan Knowles (lower) -www.photoexcellence.com.au
Australia, Canada, Great Britain and The Netherlands competed in the Women's Division, whilst Australia, Canada, Great Britain and Italy competed in the Men's Division. The two results will be somewhat of a disappointment for the two Australian teams, which were expected to finish much higher in their respective divisions.
The Rollers are the reigning Paralympic Games Gold Medallists but showed little of that form in the opening two games of the tournament, falling 39-36 to Canada and 54-53 to Italy to drop out of contention for the Gold Medal playoff.
A 68-50 win over Great Britain appeared to be a morale-boosting change of fortune for the Rollers but the Brits had rested five of their starters for this game, safe in the knowledge they had already wrapped up a berth in the Gold Medal game and looking to keep their stars out of harm's way before the big game. The Australians maintained their late burst of form to defeat Italy 65-32 in the playoff for the Bronze Medal, whilst Great Britain had a strong 53-42 win over Canada to claim the Gold Medal.
The Australia Women also started the tournament poorly, falling 43-42 to the lower-ranked Dutch team, then falling 58-52 to Canada. The Gliders finished the preliminary rounds with a one-sided 56-28 win over Great Britain, and then defeated the same team 59-24 in the playoff for the Bronze Medal. Canada won the Women's Gold Medal, defeating The Netherlands 62-46 to claim the major prize.
MEN: Canada 39 defeated Australia 36 (Brad Ness 10); Italy 54 defeated Australia 53 (Brad Ness 12 points, 10 boards; Justin Eveson 10 points); Australia 68 (Justin Eveson 24 points, Bill Latham 11, Shaun Norris 10, Tristan Knowles 9) defeated Great Britain 50; Playoff for 3rd/4th: Australia 65 (Brad Ness 16 points, Justin Eveson 14, Shaun Norris 10, Tristan Knowles 9, Bill Latham 7) defeated Italy 32
WOMEN: The Netherlands 43 defeated Australia 42 (Kylie Gauci 11 points, Cobi Crispin 9); Canada 58 def Australia 52 (Cobi Crispin 11); Australia 56 (Kylie Gauci 11 points, Cobi Crispin 10, Shelley Chaplin 10) defeated Great Britain 28; Playoff for 3rd/4th: Australia 59 (Cobi Crispin 14 points, Liesl Tesch 12, Kylie Gauci 10 points, 5 assists) defeated Great Britain 32
Further details on the BT Paralympic World Cup can be found at http://www.btparalympicworldcup.com/about/index.php
South Coast Wolves 18s do well in Premier Youth League football
After 14 rounds the South Coast Wolves under 18 Premier Youth League team was the best performed local team and held onto 3rd spot. All of the other 4 youth teams were out of the top five with the best being the 16s who have moved up to 6th and the 14s who have improved to be 7th. The 13s were in 8th spot and 15s in 9th position. Theoretically all teams could still make the play-off five in their competitions.
The next five rounds for the Wolves are:
Sunday June 6 against Sydney United at Elizabeth Park Bellambi.
Saturday June 12 against Bankstown City at Elizabeth Park Bellambi.
Saturday June 19 against Blacktown City FC at Lily Homes ground.
Saturday June 26 against Manly United FC at Elizabeth Park Bellambi.
Saturday July 3 against Rockdale City Suns at Bicentennial Park South.
All games begin with the under 13s at 9am. For further information and results go to: http://www.sportingpulse.com/comp_info.cgi?c=1-5977-0-102186-0&pool=0&round=0&a=ROUND
Follow Illawarra Hawks in State League Basketball
For news, draw and results of Illawarra Hawks' teams in State League basketball go to: http://nswbasketball.net.au/events/events.htm
Book for Kid’s July Winter camps
NSW Sport and Recreation is organising various kids’ camps for the July School holidays. For details go to: http://www.dsr.nsw.gov.au/kidscamps/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Emailcampaign&utm_content=275246299&utm_campaign=E-updatefromSportandRecreation-April2010+_+okrhui&utm_term=winterkidscamps
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