Gliders return to world stage after spell in wheelchair basketball wilderness

Australia’s women’s wheelchair basketball team has returned to the world stage, two years on from missing qualification for the Paris Paralympics.

It has been a lean decade for the Gliders, once considered amongst the world’s best, failing to qualify for the 2016 Paralympic Games as well.

But a new dawn appears to be breaking for the team, which, anchored by an experienced core and energised by an exciting group of tournament debutants, has begun its tilt at World Championship glory in Canada.

The tournament serves as an important stepping stone for the Gliders, with the side having already set the goal of a podium finish at the Brisbane 2032 Paralympics.

Meanwhile, Australia’s men’s side, the Rollers, are gunning for a third World Championship title, after missing the medals in Paris.

Taking the long way around

While the Gliders have been plotting their return to the top of the international game, China has emerged as a true powerhouse of women’s wheelchair basketball, having medalled at the 2021 and 2024 Paralympics, as well as the 2022 World Championships.

So, a first-round tussle with the Asian powerhouse was always going to be a tough task for the Australians, and something of a baptism by fire for their three tournament debutants.

The Gliders went down by 11 points in their opener on Wednesday night, but it was a game of real promise for the Australians, according to emerging star Katelin Gunn.

“We haven’t played as well as we have against China in quite a few years,” Gunn told ABC Sport from camp in Ottawa.

The meet is Gunn’s first major international tournament, but she has been in and around the Gliders’ set-up since making her international debut in 2022.

She was a member of the side that qualified for the tournament by the skin of its teeth late last year, triumphing in a gruelling repechage in Madrid after missing direct passage to the competition.

Head coach Jeremy Symot, who was appointed Gliders boss last year after a highly successful stint in the Australian domestic league, named the same 12-player squad for both the repechage and the World Championships.

The roster includes team legends Shelley Matheson and Sarah Vinci, who boast 40 years of international experience between them, as well as superstar centre Georgia Munro-Cook, fresh from her 3×3 bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games.

Gunn believes the squad is as strong as she has ever seen it, and that the shared experience of last November’s repechage has pushed it to a new level.

“We took a lot of learnings from Spain and we will build more and more on them,” Gunn said.

“In the few training sessions we’ve had together as a group, we have just connected more than ever.”

Destination Brisbane

A 73-30 loss to Canada in their second game on Friday morning means that the Gliders now face an uphill battle to progress from Group A, with the Australians likely requiring handsome victories in their remaining pool matches.

But regardless of whether a knockout-round berth does prove elusive for the side in Ottawa, the tournament is a vital next step on the road to Brisbane 2032.

Gunn, who will be in her late 20s by the time of a potentially career-defining home Games, is aware it will take time for her team to reach its potential.

“It’s all about building each game, each benchmark event, getting closer to where we want to be,” she said.

“It’s a slow process, but hopefully we’ll be closer to where we want to be by the end of this competition.”