Following last week’s five day training camp and two international ‘friendlies’ against the New Zealand Tall Ferns at the AIS in Canberra, Basketball Australia has named twelve athletes to contend the ‘Good Luck Beijing 2008′ tournament in China.
The Australian Defence Force Opals will depart Australia on Thursday next week, with the six-nation tournament running from April 19-26. The United States, Cuba, Korea, New Zealand and China are the other competing nations. Five World Champion ADF Opals have been named in the team (Tully Bevilaqua, Hollie Grima, Emily McInerny, Erin Phillips and Emma Randall) while stars Lauren Jackson, Penny Taylor and Kristi Harrower along with three other World Champion ADF Opals will remain in Europe under contract. The team is bolstered by Olympians Suzy Batkovic (Athens 2004), Michelle Brogan (Sydney 2000; Athens 2004), Natalie Porter (Athens 2004), and Alicia Poto (Athens 2004). Nineteen year old Canberra Capital Abby Bishop, who represented Australia at the under-19, under-21 and senior levels in 2007, is the youngest member of the team. Basketball Australia and ADF Opals head coach Jan Stirling opted to select the strongest team available, with the blooding of new caps kept to a minimum. "Certainly, we’re going to be challenged over at that test event," Stirling said. "It needs to be understood, we’ve got to get a group that can be competitive in that environment, because we are playing the United States, we are playing Cuba, we are playing China at full strength, so we certainly need to make sure that we equip ourselves well. "At the end of the day we are gearing up for an Olympic campaign." While not named in the ADF Opals team for this test event, seven athletes that were part of the ADF Opals’ training camp last week (Jessica Foley, Cayla Francis, Kathleen Macleod, Jenna O’Hea, Samantha Richards, Marianna Tolo, Carly Wilson) have not been ruled out of contention for selection to Beijing. Please find listed here the Australian Defence Force Opals team and staff for the ‘Good Luck Beijing 2008’ tournament as well as the tournament schedule. The Australian Defence Force Opals team: (Name, position, current club) Suzy BATKOVIC C Ekaterinburg (Russia) Tully BEVILAQUA G Canberra Capitals Abby BISHOP F Canberra Capitals Michelle BROGAN F Dandenong Rangers Renae CAMINO G Adelaide Lightning Rohanee COX F Townsville Fire Hollie GRIMA F/C Italmoka Pozzuoli (Italy) Emily McINERNY F Dandenong Rangers Erin PHILLIPS G Adelaide Lightning Natalie PORTER F Sydney Uni Flames Alicia POTO G Sydney Uni Flames Emma RANDALL C Bulleen Melbourne Boomers Staff: Head Coach: Jan Stirling Assistant Coaches: Gary Fox and Peter Lonergan Manager: Marian Stewart Physiotherapist: Amanda Berntsen Doctor: Dr. Scott Burne Performance Manager: Dr. Donna O’Connor Schedule for ‘Good Luck Beijing 2008’ Tournament – Beijing, China (all times local) 17 April: Australian Defence Force Opals depart Australia 19 April 2008: 14:30 hours: New Zealand vs. Cuba 16:45 hours: USA vs. Australia 20:00 hours: China vs. Korea 20 April 2008: 14:30 hours: Cuba vs. USA 16:45 hours: Korea vs. New Zealand 20:00 hours: Australia vs. China 21 April 2008: 14:30 hours: USA vs. Korea 16:45 hours: Australia vs. Cuba 20:00 hours: China vs. New Zealand 22 April 2008: Rest Day 23 April 2008: 16:45 hours: Korea vs. Australia 20:00 hours: Cuba vs. China 22:15 hours: New Zealand vs. USA 24 April 2008: 16:45 hours: Korea vs. Cuba 20:00 hours: China vs. USA 22:15 hours: Australia vs. New Zealand 25 April 2008: Rest Day 26 April 2008: 13:00 hours: Game for the 5th-6th place 15:15 hours: Game for the 3rd-4th place 17:30 hours: Draw for the Olympic Basketball Tournaments 20:00 hours: Game for the 1st-2nd place 22:00 hours: Medal Ceremony 27 April: Australian Defence Force Opals arrive in Australia Story: Basketball Australia www.basketball.net.au
