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 teamโ€™s performance over the tournament Australiaโ€™s Head Coach, Craig Friday said:

โ€œWeโ€™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.

โ€œWe 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 U23โ€™s later this year and some of these guys will go back to that and weโ€™ll bring some of our senior players in to focus on the World Championships now.โ€

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

  1. ย Australia (QF)
  2. ย Iran (QF)
  3. ย Korea (QF)
  4. Thailand (QF)
  5. Iraq (QF)
  6. Malaysia
  7. Saudi Arabia
  8. Philippines
  9. Afghanistan
  10. United Arab Emirates
  11. Japan (*withdrew from competition)

Full results/information of the 2022 IWBF Asia Oceania Championships

Photo Credit: Shingo ITO X-