Australia Take Silver at U25 World Champs

Australia’s U25 women’s wheelchair basketball team has claimed a silver medal from the World Championships in Thailand after going down to the might of the USA in the final.

The result is the Devils’ third consecutive silver medal at this level, yet this one might be the sweetest, considering their amazing effort in defeating a far more experienced Great Britain side in their earlier semi final clash.

With an average age of 18, the Australian U25 squad boasted a large core of athletes representing at their first world titles, whilst both the US and GB teams were loaded with current senior international talent.

The Devils side which featured Western Australians Mary Friday and Taishar Ovens were out-gunned in the gold medal match, going down 62-25 to the Americans.

Australian coach Stephen Charlton was understandably disappointed to miss gold but pleased to have taken the group to the final.

“At the end of the day it was not the result we were looking but I’m so proud of how the girls played all week,” he said.