DUBAI, 15th May 2017: The 9th Fazza Wheelchair Basketball International Championship – Dubai 2017 held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, got off to a spectacular start as Great Britain recorded a 101-42 win over South Africa at the Maktoum bin Mohammed Al Maktoum indoor hall at Al Ahli Club, Dubai on Sunday 14th May.

Thailand came from behind to defeat Saudi Arabia 51-42 in a thrilling contest while Japan prevailed over Bahrain 54-31 in the other two group matches.

The seven-team competition is being organized and supervised by the Dubai Club for People of Determination with the support of their strategic partners Dubai Sports Council, IWBF (International Wheelchair Basketball Federation), the General Authority for Youth and Sports Welfare (GAYSW) and the UAE Paralympic Committee.

The participating countries are South Africa, Japan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Great Britain and hosts UAE who will be taking the court on the second day of the championship which is scheduled to commence at 10.00 a.m.

Thailand take on Bahrain in the first match on the second day of group matches on Monday 15th May. Saudi Arabia in the second match of the day at 12.00 noon while UAE are set to play against South Africa at 2.00 p.m.

Bronze medallists

Bronze medallists at the Rio Paralympic Games, Great Britain proved too much to handle for the African side making their maiden appearance in the Fazza Wheelchair Basketball International Championship – Dubai. Both countries have brought their under 23 national teams and were using the Dubai competition as final preparation for next month’s Wheelchair Basketball World Championship to be held in Toronto, Canada.

Team GB fresh from being runners-up in the European Wheelchair Basketball Championships, got into their stride quickly and swept to 23-12 lead in the first and virtually blanked their rivals in the second period 30-4 to enjoy a 53-16 cushion at half time. Spearheaded by Paralympian Gregg Warburton who scored 16 points, Great Britain outflanked their rivals to cross the century mark with scores of 20-11 and 28-15 in the second half of a one-sided contest.

Great Britain team manager Simon David did not wish to be carried away by their splendid start. “The players executed our game plan but there is still lot to work on. There was a high percentage of shots around the basket. Scoring 100 points in an international is good but there is always much to work on. I’m sure as we go along in the tournament, there will be greater challenges. Players need to learn how to play with each other because when they go back home obviously they play for their invidual clubs,” he said.

Senior players Ben Fox (15) and Billy Bridge (14) together with Lee Fryer, Nat Pattinson and Lewis Edwards who chipped in with eight points apiece, contributed in a superb team effort as Great Britain seek to improve on their third-place finish in Dubai last year.

South African captain Steven Walgenbach waged a valiant battle almost single-handedly by scoring almost half the team’s points (20) but was a marked man.

Coach Allen Mtastase said the players were feeling the heat of Dubai with some of them playing their first major international competition.

“Great Britain is a team we would be playing in the World Cup. It was a baptism of fire for most of the boys playing an international for the first time. It is an experience for them. They will have to learn to be aggressive in defence,” he added as Team GB sliced through them with ease to score at will.

Thailand had to ward off a strong challenge from Saudi Arabia before pulling off a hard-fought 51-42 win in the second match of the day.

Saudi Arabia stunned their rivals by storming into a 11-9 in the first period and were ahead 24-23 at half time.

However, Thailand’s best player Aekkasti Jumjarean turned the tide of the match either side of the interval with his precision shooting to score an amazing 26 points and snuff out the challenge of the valiant Saudis.

“We have only been doing fitness and bodybuilding during the past few weeks. This was our first game after a long time. The boys took time to warm up,” said Thailand’s coach Mohammad Riza.

“We have brought a mix of young and experienced players. We wanted to give the taste of international competition to our younger players,” he added.

It was high intensity aggressive match with no quarter given by both sides with Thailand’s Surasit Nirat and Saudi Arabia’s Fahad Bin Diran committing four fouls each.

Saudi skipper Bin Diran who marshalled his team brilliantly gave them the lead opening with a three-pointer and a regulation shot while Abdulrahman Bin Shaylan and Safar Aldosari weighed in with crucial baskets.

Thailand clawed back in the second period to close the gap to a single digit before surging ahead 39-33 in the third period and drawing away in the final 10 minutes of an enthralling battle.

Bin Diran (11), Bin Shaylan (10) and Abdullah Alfifi (9) were the scorers for Saudi who missed many shots under the basket.

Koki Maruyama (14) was the top scorer for Japan, the third team in Dubai which is heading for the World Championships in Canada, as they notched a clinical win over Bahrain. Ryuga Akaishi, Yoshinobu Takamatsu, Satoru Kumagai and Ryo Furukowa were the other main contributors for Japan.

Ahmed Abbas Meshaima was the top scorer for Bahrain with 12 points while Nabeel Hamad Aldoseri chipped in with a couple of three-pointers.