The Sasol Amawheelaboys have booked their ticket to Brazil for the 2025 World Championships after seeing off Libya 51-38 in the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation’s U23 men’s championship final on Wednesday night.
The victory means South Africa will now carry the hopes of Africa and represent the continent at the World Champs, which are set to take centre stage in June.
The date is yet to be confirmed.
In what was a nail-biting final between Amawheelaboys and the Libyans, the first two opening quarters were tight as the two teams were separated by fine margins on the scoreboard.
Feeding off a boisterous crowd and a fully packed Mandeville Sports Club in Bezuidenhout Valley, Amawheelaboys came back on the third phase of the game fired up and registered some more points on the scoreboard, with the defence also playing their part in blocking the Libyans.
Sensing the sign and feeling of victory in the fourth quarter, the South Africans wrapped the game up in style and sent the entire arena into a frenzy.
Wheelchair basketball is healthy
Speaking to Sunday World on the sidelines during the celebrations, Sasol brand and sponsorships manager Dean Somerset said that as a sponsor of 18 years of wheelchair basketball, Sasol is proud of the massive achievement by AmaWheelaboys.
“We are very proud of how the team has performed these past six, seven days. And we can truly see that the collaboration between Wheelchair Basketball South Africa and Sasol has worked,” Somerset said.
“It’s a relationship that is 18 years old, and today we’ve truly seen the fruits that we delivered through that collaboration.
“Well done to WBSA [Wheelchair Basketball SA], well done to the team, as well as the coaching and management staff for really putting up a good display of wheelchair basketball. And we can truly see that wheelchair basketball is healthy in this country.”
The tournament, which kicked off last week, saw six nations compete for a ticket to Brazil, with debut appearances in the junior international competition for Liberia, Libya, and Egypt.
Other nations that participated in the competition were the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya.
Well-executed plan
AmaWheelaboys coach Nicho Mmitlwe expressed delight after the match, saying that his charges executed the plan well.
Mmitlwe added that he was blessed to work with physically challenged children.
“This win means a lot to me and the team because we really worked hard for this, and everything that we had planned was well-executed,” Mmitlwe said.
“The boys were committed, gave their all on the court, and they just showed that they really wanted this more.
“It was very special working with this group of players because we all know that people or children with physical challenges are not looked at the same.
“But for me, it was a blessing to work with them because they made things very easy for me, and I am fulfilled to have achieved this feat with them.”
