Australia’s Commonwealth Games netball campaign has been dealt a blow, with the Diamonds falling to Jamaica in a thrilling pool match in Birmingham.
Key points:
The Diamonds led by six goals ahead of the final quarter
Jamaica captain Jhaniele Fowler was outstanding with 47 goals
The Diamonds will play either England or New Zealand in the semi-finals
Jamaica trailed by as many as six goals heading into the final quarter, but finished in resounding fashion to overhaul the Diamonds with a 57-55 victory.
It is the first time in Commonwealth Games history that Jamaica has defeated Australia in netball.
The win means unbeaten Jamaica tops Pool A ahead of the Diamonds, who will play either England or New Zealand in the semi-finals.
Jamaica captain Jhaniele Fowler, who plays for West Coast Fever in Super Netball, had a starring role in her team’s win with 47 goals.
Jamaica was rewarded for its persistence in its shock victory over Australia.(Getty Images: Matthew Lewis)
Shanice Beckford provided a valuable 10-goal haul.
Gretel Bueta was the Diamonds’ top scorer with 36 goals, while Steph Wood added 19.
Fowler was unstoppable for Jamaica, with no-one in the Diamonds squad able to counter her size and strength.
Jamaica’s game plan was evident from the outset: get the ball to Fowler early and often, and by whatever means necessary.
It turned the center third into a battleground as players hit the deck on numerous occasions.
The Diamonds had not lost a single quarter all tournament, but on the back of Fowler doing what she wanted Jamaica jumped out to a 7-3 lead.
The Diamonds worked their way back into the contest with Bueta matching Fowler’s 10 first-quarter goals as they took a one-goal lead to the first break.
They started imposing themselves in the second quarter to open up 27-23 lead, but to the delight of the crowd Jamaica stormed home to get within one goal at the long break.
The third quarter was dominated by the Diamonds, who jumped out to a six-goal lead before Jamaica’s late surge in the final term.
The women’s 10,000m race in Birmingham has produced one of the iconic moments of the Commonwealth Games, with Scotland’s Eilish McColgan upsetting the odds to emulate her mother Liz Nuttall by taking gold in the event.
The pair had an emotional embrace in the stands after the race, which saw McColgan break the Commonwealth Games record.
Nuttall (formerly Liz McColgan), won the women’s 10,000m world title and the 10,000m crown at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1986.
She went on to successfully defend her title in Auckland four years later. In the process she set a Commonwealth Games record for the event of 31 minutes 41.42 seconds.
Eilish McColgan and Irine Cheptai gave it everything in a thrilling final lap of the women’s 10,000m final, before McColgan came away to win.(Getty Images: Al Bello)
Thirty two years on, her daughter came into the 10,000m facing the task of beating favorite Irine Cheptai of Kenya.
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The 25-lap race was a tactical battle, with McColgan lifting the slow early pace before it evolved into an elite group of six, that then became a group of three with Cheptai and compatriot Sheila Chepkirui Kiprotich.
Kiprotich then dropped back with a suspected leg problem, leaving McColgan and Cheptai alone.
The crowd in the Alexander Stadium roared her on, McColgan gritted her teeth and hung in on the final lap as she refused to be broken by the Kenyan runner.
The pair ran down the back straight with Cheptai leading by a meter or so, but McColgan was still there and kept responding to every move.
As they ran towards the final turn, McColgan was on her shoulder and the crowd noise grew again.
The Scottish runner seemed to lose balance slightly but regathered herself for one last push entering the straight. She finally drew level and then moved in front.
Both women were on the limit, but McColgan had enough in reserve to draw ahead in the final stages and sprint clear for gold.
The emotions were high for Eilish McColgan as the Scottish runner brought the house down with a stirring win in the 10,000m, like her mother had 32 and 36 years previously.(Getty Images: David Ramos)
She raised her arms in triumph as she crossed the line, then the tears flowed for McColgan as she tried to process the fact she had won.
McColgan stopped the clock in a time of 30:48.60, smashing the existing Games record by nearly 40 seconds — another Kenyan, Selina Kosgei, had broken Nuttall’s mark at the Manchester Games in 2002.
As the crowd went crazy, she waved to the stands, while draped in a Scottish flag.
McColgan then ran over to her mother in the stands, and the pair embraced as first McColgan and then Nuttall teared up.
The Scottish team has now won seven gold medals in Birmingham.
As the curtain closed on another stellar Commonwealth Games swimming campaign from the Australian Dolphins, one of the stars of the team has revealed how Kyle Chalmers’s unwanted media attention and mental health struggles had rippled through the squad she describes as “a family.”
Key points:
Kyle Chalmers has been open about his mental health struggles throughout the Birmingham Games
Ariarne Titmus says intense media scrutiny has the potential to impact the whole team
The Dolphins won 65 medals, the best haul Australian swimmers have ever produced at the Commonwealth Games
“I think we all kind of feel part of it,” said Ariarne Titmus, moments after winning her fourth gold medal of the week, for the 400m Freestyle.
“Because we are all so close, we are such a close team, and I think that’s why we perform so well, because we have each others’ backs.
“I think it potentially can affect us emotionally because they’re our friends, they’re teammates. We’re like a family and we don’t like seeing people upset and put through durations.
“And we’ve come out here and done our best and done our country proud and I think the swimming does the talking. We’ve killed it this week and I hope that Australia is proud of our performance and we’ve done our absolute best for the country and we’re going to go home with some extra luggage.”
Chalmers has been the center of intense scrutiny over his personal life. Then, on Saturday night, it came to a dramatic head, when after anchoring the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay to a gold-medal victory, he faced more questioning over an “apparent” rift within the Australian swim team.
Despite going through what he described as “the most-challenging, probably 48 hours of my swimming career”, he produced an incredible swim in 100m freestyle final days later, to claim the gold medal.
He climbed onto the lane ropes and put a finger to his mouth, after winning.
Gold medalist Kyle Chalmers sent a message to the media after weeks of intense scrutiny.(AP: Kirsty Wigglesworth)
On Thursday morning (AEST), his Commonwealth Games campaign came to an end in the 4×100 medley relay, with Chalmers swimming the final leg and Australia finishing second, just 0.08 behind England.
Chalmers said he was “relieved” the week was now over.
“For me, everyday — like we say — is day one,” he said.
“So it’s all about getting yourself up and performing every time you pull the Australian cap on, especially tonight swimming in relays.
“It’s my favorite thing and the reason why I do the sport is to be a part of the relays … so, for me, it’s all about pushing everything aside, racing every time I stand up, doing my absolute best.
“And, obviously, this next week is probably going to be reflecting on it and looking at all the positives that have come. There’s so many things to be grateful for: being part of the team, it’s special.”
“And we are all so close and it’s been a very, very successful week in the pool for us and, hopefully, we’re able to celebrate a little bit tonight as a team and, obviously, we all depart tomorrow. It’s been great .”
The Dolphins head back home with 65 medals they’ve won in the pool: 25 gold, 21 silver and 19 bronze.
It’s the best gold medal haul Australia has ever produced at Commonwealth Games in swimming.
“The team has really gotten around each other. This could possibly [have] been one of the best Comm Games medal tallies from the swim team, so I think it’s unreal to be a part of and the whole swim team has done so well,” 4×100 mixed relay silver medalist Matt Temple said.
Australia leads the medal tally with 46 gold medals as the Commonwealth Games swimming program concludes at the end of day six of the competition.
Tomorrow, attention turns to track and field and team sports.
Gold: 46
Silver: 38
Bronze: 39
Total: 123
You can check out how the latest batch of medals were won in our Commonwealth Games blog, or have a look at the medal winners and the top 10 medal standings by country below:
Day 6 medal winners:
Gold:
Evan O’Hanlon, athletics, T37/38 100m
Kaylee McKeown, Chelsea Hodges, Emma McKeon and Mollie O’Callaghan, swimming, 4×100 medley relay
Ariarne Titmus, swimming, 400m freestyle
Sam Short, swimming, 1,500m freestyle
Silver:
Brandon Starc, athletics, high jump
Bradley Woodward, Zac Stubblety-Cook, Matt Temple and Kyle Chalmers, swimming, 4X100 medley relay
Mollie O’Callaghan, swimming, 50m backstroke
Benjamin Hance, swimming, S14 200m freestyle
Cheryl Lindfield and Serena Bonnell, lawn bowls, B6-B8 women’s pair
Sam Gaze wins gold and Ben Oliver wins silver in the men’s cross country mountain biking. Video/Sky Sport
By Kris Shannon in Birmingham
Four years after seizing gold with a snarl, Sam Gaze claimed his second with a smile.
The Kiwi mountain biker today blew away the field to win the men’s cross country race at Cannock Chase Forest, with only compatriot Ben Oliver capable of following his commanding lead.
Gaze earned his third Commonwealth Games medal in a time of 1:34:19, finishing 31 seconds ahead of Oliver in a second after dropping his teammate with a blistering attack on the sixth of eight laps.
It was the third straight Games in which New Zealand recorded a 1-2 in the event, after Anton Cooper pipped Gaze in Glasgow before that outcome was acrimoniously reversed on the Gold Coast.
Sam Gaze (right) and Ben Oliver celebrate their 1-2 finish. Photo / Photosport
The Birmingham edition came with slightly less drama, owing to a combination of Cooper’s absence through Covid and Gaze’s dominance on the bike.
Having been caught out by a Cooper attack near the finish line in 2014, Gaze later said he had “felt a bit robbed” by the result.
Those simmering feelings would boil over in 2018, when Gaze outsprinted Cooper for gold, accused his compatriot of poor sportsmanship and showed him a middle finger.
Gaze would be the one fined for unsportsmanlike behavior and he expressed remorse over his actions, but the only thing better than time to heal those wounds would have been another gold medal.
Particularly one secured with Cooper watching from an isolation hotel, his ill-timed illness denying today’s race some intrigue but doing nothing to lessen the Kiwi stranglehold on the event.
“It’s been very challenging – the last four years have been pretty turbulent,” Gaze said. “I’m very grateful for it, in hindsight. It’s made me who I am today and to come back this year, I like to think as a version of myself I’m proud of, is very special.
“To perform in the way I did and have Ben here with me is very special.”
From LR, Ben Oliver, Sam Gaze and Alex Miller celebrate their medals. Photo / Photosport
Gaze immediately hit the front as the field started to string out through the picturesque setting outside of Birmingham, with Oliver right on his shoulder in a front group of 11.
That group didn’t last long, although chief podium contenders Charlie Aldridge of Scotland and Cameron Orr of Northern Ireland had at least remained on the Kiwis’ wheel at the first time check.
But by the end of the first of eight laps, with Gaze stopping the clock at 12:26, he and Oliver had already opened a six-second lead, one that would only grow.
A quarter of the way through the race, with their advantage at 23 seconds, Gaze for the first time allowed Oliver to lead the way, having exchanged a word and a glance while crossing the finish line.
Gaze took the opportunity for a long look over his shoulder on one straight, but he needn’t have worried. England’s Joe Blackmore had bridged the gap to make it a chase trio, but they were surely racing only for the minor placings.
Halfway through the race, crossing at 47:23 and having extended their advantage over the British trio to almost a minute, only calamity could prevent another Kiwi 1-2.
The pair exchanged in further discussion as they rode together across the line, no doubt knowing their teamwork had locked up the top two steps of the podium.
Midway through the sixth lap, though, that teamwork came to a sudden end. On the hilly Twin Peaks section of the course, Gaze seized his chance to attack and Oliver could muster no response.
“He’s a hard man to follow on a hill like that,” Oliver said. “I kept the same speed and Sam just got quicker. I kept hard on the pedals all the way to the line to see if Sam was going to fade, which he obviously didn’t.”
Clearly the strongest rider in the field, Gaze was now racing towards a second straight gold medal.
The 26-year-old completed the sixth lap in a time of 1:10:45, with his compatriot 25 seconds back. And with Oliver holding a one-minute edge over the pursuing pair of Orr and Blackmore, silver was still firmly in his grasp of him, eventually coasting in 90 seconds ahead of Namibia’s Alex Miller who mounted a final-lap surge for bronze.
Gaze’s lead at the end of the seventh lap had grown to 42 seconds, leaving his final ride around the circuit little more than a procession, one that soon ended in triumph for both Kiwis.
“It’s special to race with your teammate at this event, especially Ben,” Gaze said. “I’ve known him since he was 14 years old, and he’s a great guy.
“We had a plan going into it that I wasn’t wanting to shake him straight away – we wanted to help each other out and secure the first two medals.”
National record holder Peter Bol has ignored a pre-race injury scare to cruise into the men’s 800 meter final at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Key points:
Bol is the fastest qualifier for the final with a time of 1:47.01
He says he was not troubled by a rolled ankle in the lead-up to his heat
Bol was seventh at the recent world championships
Bol rolled his ankle when stepping on the curb at the training track on Tuesday.
But the threat of injury did not hamper the Australian in his 800m heat on Wednesday night AEST.
Bol went to the lead with 250 meters to run and enjoyed the luxury of easing right down in the final straight before crossing the line first in one minute and 47.01 seconds.
After clocking the fastest qualifying time, Bol now has a full four days to reset ahead of the final, where he will be among the gold-medal favourites.
“I rolled my ankle yesterday and I was limping on the way back and today I’m perfectly fine, so it’s a massive thanks to the medical team at Athletics Australia,” said Bol, who was fourth at the Tokyo Olympics.
“I wasn’t playing basketball, I promise.
“I just rolled it on the curb at the track. That’s the first time ever.”
After finishing a disappointing seventh in the final at the recent world championships in Eugene, Bol was thrilled to get the tactics just right in his Birmingham heat.
“I always say it’s a strange race, the 800, because it’s so unpredictable,” he said.
“You can have a game plan but it’s out the window by the time you start the race.
“You’ve almost just got to get the automatic [qualifier]cover the moves and just run, just like you do at training.”
Getting the chance to ease up well before the finish line was also a major bonus.
“To be honest that did feel easy and I enjoyed that a lot,” Bol said.
“It’s awesome to come back from worlds where it was a disappointing final, come back here, be in amazing shape and be able to switch off like that.”
Fellow Australian and 2021 NCAA 800m champion Charlie Hunter was eliminated after finishing fifth in the opening heat in 1:49.94.
Samoan champion weightlifter Vaipava Nevo Ioane had a heavy heart when he boarded his flight to Birmingham.
The 34-year-old was carrying a sporting secret he wasn’t sure when or where to reveal.
But even then, something much bigger was on his mind.
On top of the secret he would later reveal to his coach and teammates, his wife was pregnant and would give birth any day.
Nevo with his wife and three children before heading to Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games.(Supplied)
She had no support back home in Apia.
Nevo had spent his last days on Samoan ground finding a babysitter to look after their three young children for when the newborn would arrive.
The thought of his wife needing him while he was on the other side of the world was nearly too much to bear.
“All I could do was pray,” Nevo said.
On top of the pressure of the secret he was keeping, and the concern for his family, Nevo also knew he had to deliver for his country and his coach, Tuaopepe Jerry Wallwork.
He had to bring home a gold medal.
Coach Jerry believes the Samoan government robbed his weightlifting team by blocking travel to the Tokyo Olympics because of COVID.
He still bristles at the mention of the whole saga.
“We were denied the opportunity to go to the Tokyo Olympics. Our government shut down our borders. We had a realistic chance to win a medal,” he said.
“A missed opportunity like that doesn’t come around many times. So we’re going to Birmingham to make a statement.”
The Samoan weightlifting team for the Commonwealth Games, with coach Jerry Wallwork second from right.(Supplied)
The statement nobody saw coming
With competition in full swing, Nevo easily progressed to the top two for his 67kg weight category.
For gold, he would have to beat 19-year-old Indian lifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga.
“We knew it was going to be tough, especially from the Indian,” coach Jerry said.
“He had a stronger snatch, but we had a stronger jerk.”
Nevo performs a snatch in Birmingham, eventually claiming silver behind his Indian opponent.
Nevo’s second attempt at the snatch was a personal best at 127kg.
His second go at the clean and jerk was a Commonwealth Games record, at 166kg.
Things were looking good, but tight. He would have to go to 174kg to win the gold, and to lift an 8kg increase would be considered akin to a miracle.
“We started with 163kg to secure bronze, then got 166kg to secure silver but we had the job of jumping to 174kg to win gold,” Jerry said.
“It was close but it didn’t pull off.
“But I got to hand it to Nevo, he fought it all the way. From the snatch to the last jerk … it was one of the best performances of his career.”
When Nevo’s 174kg failed jerk crashed to the floor, he missed out on the gold but would take home a silver medal for Samoa.
And then it was time to make a different statement.
While still on the stage, he took off his shoes and placed them neatly together on the lifting platform.
At that moment, his humble white lifting shoes were a totem for a youth spent pushing his body to extremes, of countless injuries, discipline, glory, friends, family, pride — and his great respect for the sport.
Nevo’s secret had been revealed.
I have retired.
He turned to the roaring crowd, bowed and walked off in his socks with tears streaming down his face.
“Nobody knew I was going to do it. But in my mind, I knew this is my last competition. They were all shocked,” Nevo said.
“But it’s been tough for me to continue this career. I must put my family first now.”
Coach Jerry has no idea that his star pupil was calling time on his long career.
“The retirement was a surprise, we didn’t know anything about that,” Jerry said.
“But he’s served his country for quite a few years. He’s married now with four kids, I don’t blame him at all.”
And Nevo had another moving piece of symbolism up his sleeve.
When he came back out for the medal ceremony, he embraced the Indian gold medal winner.
Vaipava Nevo Ioane drapes the ula fala around Jeremy Lalrinnunga’s neck, as bronze medalist Edidiong Joseph Umoafia from Nigeria looks on.(Getty Images: Eddie Keogh)
Nevo draped the Samoan “ula fala” he was wearing around Lalrinnunga’s neck.
“It (the ula fala) is special in my culture. It’s about high chiefs, respect for your elders,” Nevo said.
“People who give it see a lot of potential in you. That’s why I gave it to the Indian, to show him my respect. It’s your time now. I’m going to retire, it’s your time to shine.”
Birmingham leaves an indelible mark
Two days before Nevo won the silver medal his wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
They named him Birmingham Jerry Ioane.
Mum and baby are doing well and Nevo will be flying home soon.
Weightlifting is deep-rooted in the Samoan champion.
His father, who passed away last year, introduced him to the sport when Nevo was 10 years old.
Nevo finds it hard to imagine a future without weightlifting, and thinks he’ll continue in coaching and development for Samoa.
Jerry’s Samoan squad has more medal hopefuls in it.
The last of the weightlifting will be wrapped up by Friday of week two of the games.
“It’s been a long journey for me. I’m going to miss the sport, my friends, my friends from other countries in every comp I go to,” he said.
The Paris Olympics beckon for Australian weightlifting star Eileen Cikamatana, who has made Commonwealth Games history with a record-breaking performance.
Key points:
Cikamatana won the 90kg class while representing Fiji on the Gold Coast
Her second lift of 137kg in Birmingham won the gold, and she capped her win with a third lift of 145kg
Cikamatana is recovering from a 26cm tear in her thigh
Cikamatana won Australia’s first weightlifting gold at the Birmingham Games with lifts in the 87kg category that put her on a different level to the competition.
More significantly, she is now the first woman to win Commonwealth Games gold for two countries, having won the 90kg class on the Gold Coast for Fiji.
“I don’t know how to describe it… I can’t fit it into words,” Cikamatana said of her achievement.
“I think it’s floating somewhere. I will need to grab it then I will let you know.”
Cikamatana won Australia’s first weightlifting gold at the Birmingham Games.(Getty Images: Dean Mouhtaropoulos)
Soon after the Gold Coast Games, Cikamatana switched to Australia after a dispute with Fiji’s weightlifting governing body over where she should train.
She was unable to compete at the Tokyo Olympics because she was still ineligible, but Cikamatana showcased her vast talent in Birmingham.
Cikamatana set the Games record in the category with her snatch lift of 110kg.
She then took the overall lead with her first clean and jerk attempt of 129kg.
Cikamatana’s second lift of 137kg won the gold medal, and also set the clean and jerk and overall Games records.
She capped her outstanding win with a third lift of 145kg, giving the Australian a total of 255kg.
Eileen Cikamatana lifted a total of 255kg.(Getty Images: Dean Mouhtaropoulos)
Canadian Kristel Ngarlem won silver with 236kg and Nigerian Mary Osojo took bronze with her total of 225kg.
The achievements have come as Cikamatana recovers from a 26cm tear in her thigh last year — an injury so painful she cannot squat.
“They’re personal bests after the injury, I could say,” she said of the Games lifts.
“I’ve lifted 156 jerk and 121 snatch, yeah… here comes Paris, 2024. Here we go.”
Cikamatana was in tears at the medal ceremony and she paid tribute to coach Paul Coffa and his wife Lilly.
“I was emotional because I [am] really appreciative of getting to represent the green and gold and standing on the podium, listening to the anthem,” she said.
“Representing the green and gold is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it’s a dream come true.
“They (the Coffas) made all these impossible dreams come true.”
Cikamatana was asked if her achievements were worth all the grief from the split with Fiji.
“One million times, [the switch] it’s worth it,” she said.
“It’s something I never dreamed of getting.”
On Monday, fellow Australians Kyle Bruce and Sarah Cochrane won weightlifting silver.
And earlier on Tuesday, compatriot Ebony Gorincu finished sixth in the 76kg class and Ridge Barredo overcame a hip injury to finish fifth in the men’s 96kg category.
Australia is well ahead in the medal tally on day five of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
It was another strong day of competition, with Australia winning 35 medals across multiple events. Here is the medal tally for Australia’s athletes so far:
Gold: 42
Silver: 32
Bronze: 32
Total: 106
You can check out how the latest batch of medals were won in our Commonwealth Games blog, or have a look at the medal winners and the top 10 medal standings by country below:
Day five:
Gold:
Kaylee McKeown, Zac Stubblety-Cook, Matthew Temple and Emma McKeon, swimming, mixed 4X100 medley
That’s how everyone was left feeling after one of the best advertisements you could see for 3×3 basketball.
It was the type of finish that keeps your heart racing long after the full-time siren has gone.
England’s men rode an incredible wave of home crowd support to beat Australia in overtime, 17-16.
Australia’s men claim wheelchair basketball gold
The four gold medal matches played out in fast and furious fashion at Smithfield, and Australia’s 3×3 men’s wheelchair basketball team started off with a tense match against Canada.
Lachlin Dalton (left) was again on form to help Australia to an 11-9 win.(Getty Images: Justin Setterfield)
A day after shooting a two-pointer in overtime to beat England in the semis, youngster Lachlin Dalton was again on form to help the Australians to an 11-9 win.
“It’s been a bit surreal coming out playing well for the country and just to help be part of a gold medal, the first of its kind, there’s just something special,” Dalton said.
“To come out and play like we did, have the camaraderie that we did all week, it’s definitely been my favorite week away.”
‘I am Birmingham’: Local hero leads physical fight
In the men’s decider, it was a street ball shootout of the highest quality.
After an intense, physical showdown, where both sides racked up the fouls, it went to overtime where the first team to score two points would win.
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After Australia scored first, Birmingham’s own Myles Hesson got himself in two-point range, and swoosh, the capacity crowd exploded.
“I have played basketball in every corner of Birmingham,” Hesson said.
“This is where I used to catch the bus, just here. This is where I went to the markets with my gran. I am from Birmingham. I am Birmingham.”
“I don’t know how they all got tickets, but there are a lot of people in this stadium rooting for me. I could hear every last one of them.”
Australia’s Greg Hire, meanwhile, said he was proud of the way the Australian team had fought out the match.
“To go down in a game winning shot to a super talented side in front of the home crowd, I’m immensely proud,” Hire said.
“But [it’s a] pretty tough feeling right now.”
“It’s just a privilege to play in front of a crowd like that,” Jesse Wagstaff added.
“Birmingham’s done a great job of putting on a fantastic show.”
Hire played the match with a torn groin and was the ultimate street-fighter, scrapping and jostling, and attracting plenty of attention from the referees — Australia ended up with 11 team fouls and England nine.
Greg Hire says he will retire from international competition, and wants to see more investment in 3×3 basketball. (AAP Photos: Darren England)
“That’s the reason why we love it right? It’s not traditional five and five, and it’s tough,” Hire said.
“Obviously the refs swallowed their whistle towards the end of the game, which is a shame, but that’s the style, that’s 3×3 basketball. I think that’s why it’s a sport that as you can see, everyone loves.”
After making its debut at last year’s Tokyo Olympics, Hire, one of Australia’s most experienced players in the short format, says he’s retiring from international competition, and wants to see more investment in it.
“We don’t get paid to play 3×3, we don’t get per diem like the Boomers. You’re doing for the love of the game and for the love of the country,” he said.
“What we’re seeing is the first step. In the past, and don’t disrespect the players that played before us, but it’s guys that specialize in 3×3.
“We need to put some respect, raise the profile. Hopefully those NBL guys that aren’t in the Boomers will play for us.”
Women’s teams win minor medals
The women’s wheelchair team couldn’t bring its best against Canada, going down 14-5.
Australia’s women beat New Zealand 15-13 to win the wheelchair bronze.(Getty Images: Justin Setterfield)
“A silver medal is a bit bittersweet, but I’m so proud of our girls,” Australia’s Ella Sabljak said.
“We’ve come from literally nothing, we’ve had no expectations, and that was probably our worst game we played the entire tournament, so I know we’re better than that.”
Australia’s women beat New Zealand 15-13 to win the bronze medal, and Canada’s women downed England 14-13 to claim gold.
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