It was a thrilling two weeks of wheelchair basketball at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and as the teams fought it out for a place on the podium, the placing games were also meaningful with spots for the 2022 World Championships at stake.

The final standings of both competitions determine the allocation of extra Zonal spots for the World Championships set to take place in Dubai, UAE next year. In the womenโ€™s competition, the top seven teams would secure extra places for their zone, whilst in the menโ€™s it was the top 11.

At the 2022 World Championships, there will be 16 teams in the menโ€™s competition and 12 teams in the womenโ€™s competition.

The host nation is allocated a spot for both menโ€™s and womenโ€™s teams, then each of the four zones are awarded one place each in both competitions.

The remaining eleven places in the menโ€™s competition and seven places in the womenโ€™s competition are decided from the final rankings of the last Paralympic Games, in this case, Tokyo 2020.

The final standings of the menโ€™s competition at Tokyo 2020 saw the Americas Zone USA teams finish in the top spot, with fellow Zonal counterpartsโ€™ Canada and Colombia coming in eight and eleventh, to give them an additional three spots. ย Asia Oceaniaโ€™s Japan, Australia, Korea and Iran all finished in the top 11 to secure an extra four places for their zone taking their total up to six (including host spot for UAE). Europe also finishes with four extra places to take their total up to five places. An African team did not make the top eleven which means they have just one automatic spot.

Men’s Final Standings

  1. USA
  2. Japan
  3. Great Britain
  4. Spain
  5. Australia
  6. Turkey
  7. Germany
  8. Canada
  9. Iran
  10. Korea
  11. Colombia
  12. Algeria

In the womenโ€™s competition, Europe had a strong representation in the top seven to add a further three qualification spots for their Zone. China and Japan secured the Asia Oceania Zone two extra spots. Americas also added two extra spots with the USA and Canada finishing in third and fifth. An African team did not make the top seven, so they donโ€™t add to their one automatic spot.

Women’s Final Standings

  1. Netherlands
  2. China
  3. USA
  4. Germany
  5. Canada
  6. Japan
  7. Great Britain
  8. Spain
  9. Australia
  10. Algeria

*Following the IWBF World Congress in August 2018, a new qualification format which included a repechage tournament for Senior World Events was ratified with the condition it was postponed and introduced post-Tokyo 2020 on request from the membership. However, due to COVID-19 and the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics the new qualification format will not come into place until post the 2022 World Championships.

Consequently, the qualification process for the 2022 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships will remain the same as it was for Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Games and the 2018 World Championships.

Final qualification places for the 2022 World Championships.

Zone Men Women
Africa 1 1
Americas 4 3
Asia Oceania* 6 4
Europe 5 4
ย  16 12

*including UAE as Host Nation in both Men and Women

 

Photo: Getty Images.