As they did at the Olympics the Australian Rollers overcame Canada 77-48 to win the Rollers World Challenge at Sydney Olympic park at the weekend.
The Australians’ also had two players named to the tournament All-Star Five; forward Justin Eveson and guard Michael Hartnett. Other players picked were Japan’s Reo Fujimoto and guard Shingo Fujii, and Bronze medallist Great Britain’s Captain Jon Pollock.
Eveson’s had a great night also picking up the prestigious 2008 Sandy Blythe Medal for International Wheelchair Player of the Year for his efforts in leading the Rollers at the Paralympic Games in Beijing.
Rollers Captain Brad Ness led all scorers in the final with 21 points while Nick Taylor added 14 points in just his fourth game for Australia and Eveson bagged 13 points and grabbed a game high nine rebounds.
Coach Ben Ettridge who took over a year out from the Olympics lost the World Championship final, his first loss, and has since led the Rollers on an unprecedented run of success. It would be nice to see his efforts rewarded at some stage.
In the Bronze Medal Game Great Britain overpowered Japan 76-58 led by Pollock with 26 points.
