The Sasol AmaWheelies took the court early on Tuesday morning (11am local time) for their final group stage game against Thailand at the 2025 IWBF Men’s Wheelchair Basketball World Championship knowing that anything other than victory will be acceptable.
Having seen their knockout stages hopes vanish following a tough weekend at the global showpiece held at the Centro de Treinamento Paralímpico Brasileiro in Sao Paulo, Brazil; the South Africans put in an energetic and structured performance that saw them take a 31-25 lead into the halftime break.
Led by the evergreen Ntando Nokama in offense, the young South Africans also seemed to have sorted out their defensive structure that let the down in previous games, incorporating a lot of aggression and cohesiveness into their play.
The second half started off a bit scrappy for the Sasol AmaWheelies as they looked to regain their first half momentum, while Thailand desperately looked to get back into the game.
The boys in green and gold managed to regain the composure, nullify their opponents’ offence and close out the third quarter 50-40, with everything to play for in the final quarter.
But try as they may the Thai’s could not break the South African resistance and the Sasol AmaWheelies managed to stretch their lead and hold off the Asian charge, before emerging 64-54 victors in what will be a very sweet and well-earned victory.
The South Africans will be back on the court on Wednesday, 18 June against the 6th placed team in Group A which is yet to be determined. All matches are live streamed on the IWBF YouTube channel.
