Victorian trio Tristan Knowles, Isabel Martin and national debutant Laura Davoli have been selected to represent the Rollers and Gliders at the 2022 IWBF Asia Oceania Championships.
Davoli and Martin recently represented Victoria at the 2022 Kevin Coombs Cup in Ballarat, with the team winning bronze in the tournament held in April. For Davoli, having made her Victorian debut at the Kevin Coombs Cup as well, it's been an incredible rise up the ranks as she adds Australian representative to an already impressive resume.
Tristan Knowles and Martin also represented Australia at the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 2021 to cap off a stellar year on court for the pair.
From May 21-28, Phuket, Thailand will host the Championships, with this event standing as the zone’s qualifying tournament for the 2022 IWBF World Championships, to be held in November this year. The Gliders will compete in a pool with Japan, Iran and hosts Thailand, while the men’s division will be split into two divisions, with the Rollers set to take on Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Korea and Thailand.
The Rollers will certainly be looking to reclaim their 2018 World Championship podium standings after slipping to a fifth placing at the Tokyo Paralympics. The Gliders will be determined to move up in standings, having missed out on podium success in recent years.
An experienced line up, the Rollers will be led by five-time Paralympic medallists and dual World Champions, Tristan Knowles and Shaun Norris while 25-year-old Tom O’Neill-Thorne will yet again take his place in the side. The Rollers will also inject youth into their well-established team, with Frank Pinder, Tom McHugh, Eithen Leard, Phil Evans, Jake Kavanagh and Jordan Bartley set to make their national team debut.
Rollers Coach Craig Friday embraces the challenge ahead.
“We welcome fresh faces into the Rollers team for the AOZs," Friday said. "We’re looking for some energy and some different line ups that can play internationally so it’s exciting and challenging as we look to qualify for the World Championships later this year."
While the Gliders’ most recent international medal was achieved at the 2012 Paralympic Games, the national team are ready to expand on their rebuilding period and will be determined to lock themselves in for a spot at the World Championships. The Gliders will take leadership from senior names like Amber Merritt, Hannah Dodd and Georgia Munro-Cook. Two fresh faces in Annabelle Dennis, Laura Davoli, Sarah King and Victoria Simpson have also been rewarded with their national team debut.
Gliders Coach Craig Campbell is ready for the Gliders to take that next step.
“The current depth of the program has allowed us to take a team that will both challenge for the championship and also expose additional Gliders to international basketball to set us up for future successes," Campbell said.
The full AOC schedule available here.
AUSTRALIAN GLIDERS - ASIA OCEANIA CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM
Amber Merritt 4.5 (WA)
Georgia Munro-Cook 4.5 (NSW)
Annabelle Dennis 4.5 (SA)
Jess Cronje 4.0 (NSW)
LAURA DAVOLI 4.0 (VIC)
Sarah King 3.0 (QLD)
Georgia Inglis 2.5 (WA)
Maryanne Latu 2.5 (NSW)
Victoria Simpson 1.5 (NSW)
Hannah Dodd 1.0 (QLD)
Sarah Vinci 1.0 (WA)
ISABEL MARTIN 1.0 (VIC)
AUSTRALIAN ROLLERS - ASIA OCEANIA CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM
Tom McHugh 4.5 (WA)
TRISTAN KNOWLES 4.0 (VIC)
Jordan Bartley 4.0 (QLD)
Michael Auprince 4.0 (NSW)
Shaun Norris 3.0 (WA)
Jake Kavanagh 3.0 (WA)
Tom O’Neill-Thorne 3.0 (NT)
Eithen Leard 2.5 (QLD)
Phil Evans 2.0 (WA)
Matt McShane 1.5 (QLD)
Sammy White 1.0 (QLD)
Frank Pinder 1.0 (WA)
