The Australian Rollers secured their 11th Asia Oceania Championship title following an intense and physical, 56-50, victory over Iran in the final of the 2022 IWBF Asia Oceania Championships in Phuket, Thailand.
In what was a dramatic conclusion to the competition it was Australia, led by the experience of veteran Tristan Knowles, who battled back, going on a 13-point run to come from behind and claim the title.
Commenting on his team’s performance over the tournament Australia’s Head Coach, Craig Friday said:
“We’re really happy, we bought a different group, a developing and emerging group mixed with some of our senior players to expose them and the results stands us in good stead for now and for the future.
“We are focussed on the World Champs and building some sustainability in the programme. We have got some good kids coming through and we have the U23’s later this year and some of these guys will go back to that and we’ll bring some of our senior players in to focus on the World Championships now.”
Korea bounced back from their semi-final loss to Australia, with a confident performance over hosts Thailand, 68-50, to finish third and take home bronze.
There were scenes of joy as Iraq qualified for their first-ever World Championships by defeating Malaysia in the 5-6 Place Game by just three points, 50-47.
In the 7-8 place Saudi Arabia withstood a late surge from the Philippines to win by just 1 point, 56-57, and clinch the 7th spot.
2022 IWBF Asia Oceania Championships Men's Final Standings
- Australia (QF)
- Iran (QF)
- Korea (QF)
- Thailand (QF)
- Iraq (QF)
- Malaysia
- Saudi Arabia
- Philippines
- Afghanistan
- United Arab Emirates
- Japan (*withdrew from competition)
Full results/information of the 2022 IWBF Asia Oceania Championships
Photo Credit: Shingo ITO X-
