Australia wins wheelchair basketball world title against Italy as Britain and Netherlands claim bronze

Australia takes men's title against Italy

Australia secured the men's wheelchair basketball world championship title in Ottawa with an 81-57 victory over Italy. The Australian team, known as the Rollers, established control from the opening minutes of the contest and stayed ahead across the entire 40 minutes of play. Australia steadily expanded the scoring gap as the match progressed, preventing an Italian comeback and sealing the gold medal in the Canadian capital.

Italian campaign concludes with first podium finish

The final marked the first defeat of the tournament for Italy, managed by coach Castellucci. The Italian squad reached the gold medal game after defeating defending world champions the United States during the group phase and subsequently eliminating Great Britain in the semi-finals. Prior to the competition in Ottawa, Italy had never won a medal at a wheelchair basketball world championship, with the national team's previous best finish being fourth place at the 2010 edition.

British men secure bronze over Germany

In the men's third-place playoff, Great Britain defeated Germany 67-56 to secure the bronze medal. Germany opened the game with an initial lead before the British team responded with two baskets in under a minute to take control of the scoreboard. Great Britain held the lead for the rest of the game, led by Gregg Warburton, who recorded a team-high 20 points. The bronze medal completed a run of three consecutive World Championship podium finishes for the British men's squad, who took gold in 2018 and silver in 2022. In the men's classification bracket on Friday, the Netherlands concluded their campaign in ninth place by beating Colombia 66-59 in the ninth-and-tenth-place match.

Dutch women rebound after semi-final exit

In the women's third-place match, the Netherlands earned the bronze medal with a 63-50 win over Great Britain. The Dutch team, who entered the tournament as defending champions after winning gold in both 2018 and 2022, had dropped into the bronze game following an 85-73 semi-final loss to hosts Canada on Thursday. Canada advanced to face the United States in the women's final.

Kramer and Beijer lead Netherlands to bronze

The women's bronze contest saw Great Britain, captained by Sophie Carrigill, recover from a deficit after the opening two quarters to level the score at 44-44 before the final period. The Netherlands then pulled away in the fourth quarter, outscoring Britain 19-6 to close out the game. Bo Kramer led the Dutch performance with 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 assists, while teammate Mariska Beijer added 13 points and 9 rebounds. The result gave the Dutch women another international podium finish, adding to world titles in 2018 and 2022, bronze in 2014, five consecutive European championship titles won through October, and gold medals from the last two Paralympic Games. Despite the loss, Great Britain recorded their highest recent finish in fourth place, improving from ninth place at the 2022 championship.