The 2015 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship was held at the China Disability Sports Training Centre in Beijing from 30 June to 6 July 2015.International Wheelchair Basketball Federation, “2015 Women's U25 World Championship heading to Beijing”, 23 May 2015.FIBA, “Great Britain crowned champions at 2015 Women's U25 World Championship”, 8 July 2015. Six nations competed: Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Great Britain and Japan. Great Britain won the gold medal, defeating Australia in the final, while the host nation China secured the bronze medal.
The event took the form of a Round-robin tournament, with each team playing all the other teams once. The top four teams then went into semi-finals, while the bottom two played each other for world ranking. The winners of the semi-finals faced each other in the final, while the losers played for bronze. The championship was won by Team Great Britain. Australia came second and China third.
Competition
This was the second time the Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship was held. The first time was the 2011 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in St. Catharines, Canada, in 2011. The Championship was hosted by the China Administration of Sports for Persons with Disabilities (CASPD) and the National Paralympic Committee of China.
Australia's Don Perriman was designated the Chief Classifier. Other classifiers were Canada's Anne Lachance, Germany's Sabine Drisch and Lithuania's Vaidas Stravinskas. Japan's Taichi Nishimura and the Netherlands' Nathalie Van Meurs were the Game Commissioners. Referee supervisors were Australia's Matthew Wells and Spain's Tonia Gomez. Referees were Helen Rosenberg from Australia, Robert Ruisinger from Germany, Jun Zhang from China, Hrvoje Pencinger from Croatia, Linas Radykas from Lithuania, Shu Fei Hsieh from Chinese Taipei and Celine Villard from France.
Venue The competition was held at the China Disability Sports Training Centre in Beijing. This is a purpose-built centre for disability sports. Opened on 28 June 2007, it was the first facility in China entirely devoted to disability sports training, and is the largest of its kind in the world. The Chinese Paralympic team used it as its training and preparation centre for the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. The entire complex is wheelchair accessible, with large elevators and wide halls.
Teams Six nations competed: Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Great Britain and Japan. Australia had won silver and Great Britain bronze in St. Catharines. This was the first time that the host country was competing.
Head Coach: David Gould Assistant Coach: Tom KyleTechnical Assistant: Michael OxleyDevelopment Coach: Ben HodgensTeam Manager: Trudy VineyPhysiotherapist: Natasha MelacrinisProgram Manager: Leigh Gooding #NameClass. 4 Sarah Vinci 1.0 5 Ella Sabljak 1.0 6 Catherine Nelson 4.0 7 Natalie Alexander 2.5 8 Georgia Bishop-Cash 4.0 9 Georgia Munro-Cook 4.5 10 Georgia Inglis 2.5 13 Hannah Dodd 2.0 12 Jess Cronje 4.0 15 Amber Merritt 4.5
Head coach: Ross NortonAssistant coach: Simon CashManager: Andrea MuirPhysio: Teresa Budwal #NameClass. 4 Corin Metzger 2.5 5 Elodie Tessier 2.5 6 Helaina Cyr 2.5 7 Danielle Arbour 2.5 8 Alarissa Haak 2.0 9 Maude Jacques 2.5 10 Zoe Hahn 3.0 12 Sara Black 1.0 13 Arinn Young 4.5 14 Erica Gavel 4.5 15 Rosalie Lalonde 3.0
Head coach: Nora SchratzTeam manager: Yvone Daniel-SchratzDoctor: Petra Michel-LeuteueserPhysiotherapist: Franziska VogelTechnics: Thomas Grumpert #NameClass. 4 Lias Nothelter 1.0 5 Laura Fürst 2.0 6 Barbara Groß 4.5 7 Linda Dahle 4.5 8 Lisa Fisher 3.0 9 Helene Harwich 1.0 10 Audrea Seyrl 2.0 11 Miriam Palm 2.0 12 Annabel Breuer 1.5 13 Fabienne Onishke 3.0 14 Selina Rausch 1.0 15 Rebecca Lieb 3.5
Team manager: Lauren SmithHead coach: Thompson MilesAssistant coach: Matthew FodenPhysiotherapist: Alison NagataMechanic: Jonathan MorriPerformance Director: Paul DaviesPerformance Analyst: Ian Britton #NameClass. 4 Charlotte Moore 1.0 5 Sophie Carrigill 1.0 6 Siobhan Fitzpatrick 3.0 7 Frances Ray 2.5 8 Laurie Williams 2.5 9 Katie Morrow 4.5 10 Amy Conroy 4.0 12 Leah Evans 2.5 13 Jordanna Bartlett 3.0 14 Joy Haizelden 2.5 15 Megan Wood 3.0
Head coach: Yuan Sheng XuAssistant coach: Yan HanManager:Qi ChenPhysio: Yi Chuan Zhang #NameClass. 4 Meng Yang 4.0 5 San Yang 4.0 6 Xue Mai Zhang 4.0 7 Xue Jing Chen 1.0 8 Man Liu 1.0 9 Tian Jiao Lei 4.5 10 Jia Meng Dai 4.5 11 Yan Yang 4.0 12 Si Ting Huang 2.0 13 Gui Di Lü 4.0 14 Peng Huan Xue 2.0 15 Yan Nan Shi 4.0
Tean Leader: Osamu KotakiHead coach: Kyoko TsukamotoAssistant coach: Akiko NagahamaTeam Staff: Eriko YokosePhysiotherapist: Kayoko Hashimoto #NameClass. 4 Hiroko Bamba 3.0 6 Izumi Zaima 1.0 7 Emi Yasuo 2.5 8 Amane Yanagimoto 2.5 10 Mayo Hagino 1.0 11 Ayano Ogurli 1.0 12 Nazuna Yamasaki 4.5 13 Sena Takase 2.5 14 Yui Kitama 1.0 15 Nina Okugawa 1.0
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Preliminary round The event took the form of a Round-robin tournament, with each team playing all the other teams once. The top four teams then went into semi-finals, while the bottom two played each other for ranking. The winners of the semi-finals faced each other in the final, while the losers played for bronze.
Day 1 There were three matches each day. The first was between the Australian team, known as the Devils,In line with Australian practice, the players named their team after a native Australian animal, in this case the Tasmanian devil. However, none of the players on the 2015 roster is from Tasmania. and Japan. The Japanese team found themselves outclassed, with Australia outscoring them in the first quarter by 26–6. Australia's Amber Merritt was particularly dangerous, finishing the day with 22 points from 16 field goal attempts. Australia continued in the same vein in the second quarter, outscoring Japan 14–7. The second half proved more even, but only because Australian coach David Gould benched his top players; the final siren saw Australia winning 50–26.2015 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship – Game 1 Score Sheet
The second game, between Great Britain and Canada, saw the former confirm its status as a contender for the gold medal, winning the first three quarters by 14–7, 15–4 and 15–4. The scoreline did not tell the whole story, however, for Canada's defensive pressure exacted a relatively low return for Great Britain's efforts, with only 24 field goals being scored from 60 attempts. Canada fared even more poorly though, with only 14 from 49 attempts. Britain's Jordanna Bartlett racked up 12 points, followed by Laurie Williams and Amy Conroy with 10 each. Canada's highest scorer was Arinn Young, with 11 points.2015 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship – Game 2 Score Sheet
The final game of the day, held after the Opening Ceremony, saw host nation China facing Germany. The German team, spearheaded by Annabel Breuer and Laura Fürst, got off to a two-point lead at the first break, but the Chinese team outscored them in the two subsequent quarters by 18-4and 17–10. Tian Jiao Lei led China's scoring with 18 points, followed by Xue Jing Chen with 13. Laura Fürst contributed 14 points to Germany's scoreline, followed by Linda Dahle with 10. Despite a late rally by Germany, the Chinese team went away victors, 59–45.2015 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship – Game 3 Score Sheet
Day 2 The first game of the second day saw Australia and Great Britain, two of the previous day's winners face each other. Dominating the play were two tall players, both veterans of the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London: Australia's Amber Merritt, who racked up 28 points from 10 field goals and eight free throws, and Great Britain's Amy Conroy with 21 points from 10 fields goals and one of her five free throw attempts. After trailing for the first half, Australia outscored Great Britain in the third quarter 20–9 to lead by three points at three-quarter time. In the final quarter though, Great Britain stormed back to win by nine points.2015 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship – Game 4 Score Sheet
The second game was between two of the first day's losing sides, Germany and Japan. A gallant Japanese side that never gave up provided Germany a contest, but Germany led at every break, and came away 50–28 winners. Barbara Groß racked up 22 points, followed by Linda Dahle with 11, while Japan's Mayo Hagino scored 18.2015 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship – Game 5 Score Sheet
In the third game, Canada raced to a 22–14 lead against China at quarter time. The Canadian team was spearheaded by three team players from Quebec: Maude Jacques and Élodie Tessier, who went on to score 15 points; and Rosalie Lalonde, who was not far behind with 13. Arinn Young followed with 10 points. But China fought back in the second term, and the Canadians had no answer to Tian Jiao Lei, who scored 35 points. Maude was eventually fouled off, and China won 57–75.2015 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship – Game 6 Score Sheet
Day 3 The third day opened with the match between Canada and Japan. Canada proved too good, leading at every break and coasting to a 65–36 win, its first of the tournament. Arinn Young, Rosalie Lalonde and Erica Gavel were the top scorers for Canada with 18, 14 and 10 points respectively. Young's bag included a three-pointer and an impressive three from three attempts from the free throw line. Japan's top scorers were Maya Hagino with 15, followed by Yui Kitama with 11.2015 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship – Game 7 Score Sheet
A far more equal contest was the second game of the day between Germany and Australia. Australia led by three points at quarter time, but Germany fought back in the second, outscoring Australia 14–10 to lead by a point at the long break. A see-sawing contest saw each side score ten points in the third quarter, leaving the margin unchanged at 30–31 at three-quarter time. But when the Australian Devils came back on the court after the break they scored eleven unanswered points. Germany was unable to catch up, and Australia notched up another win, the final score being 40–49. Australia's top scorer was one pointer Sarah Vinci with 13. Georgia Munro-Cook scored 12, and Georgia Inglis and Amber Merritt scored 10 points each. Germany's Barbara Groß scored 18 points and took 13 rebounds, while Linda Dahle scored 14 points and took 9 rebounds.2015 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship – Game 8 Score Sheet
The third match of the day was between the two unbeaten teams, China and Great Britain. Britain's defensive pressure was intense, and its scoring was accurate. Great Britain led at each break, piling on 16 points to China's 10 in the first quarter, 14 to 10 in the second, and 28 to 11 in the third, running away to a 70–45 victory. Britain's Jordanna Bartlett scored 26 points and took 11 rebounds; Amy Conroy scored 18 points, including four from four attempts from the free throw line, and Laurie Williams notched up 16 points. China's top player was Jiameng Dai, who scored 24 points and took 13 rebounds. This left Great Britain as the only undefeated team in the competition.2015 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship – Game 9 Score Sheet
Day 4