Sydney Uni Wheelchair Flames stars Sarah Stewart and Stephanie van Leeuwen return home from Canada this week with the Australian Gliders, who finished sixth at the 2014 IWBF Women’s World Wheelchair Basketball Championships in Toronto, Canada.
Host nation Canada won the gold medal with a 54-50 win over Germany in the final, while the Netherlands defeated defending champions, the United States, 74-58 to win the bronze.
Great Britain defeated Australia 77-70 in the consolation play-off for fifth and sixth.
The 2014 World Championships were the third for Stewart, who is also a three-time Paralympian and former Sydney University Sport and Fitness EAP scholarship holder, while van Leeuwen was making her major tournament debut.
A record 12 teams contested the 2014 championships. The Gliders contested Pool A with the Netherlands, France, United States, Peru and Mexico, while Pool B included Germany, Great Britain, Canada, China, Japan and Brazil.
The Gliders opened the pool rounds with a 68-52 loss to the US, but hit back with a 90-10 result over Peru, a 59-47 win over France and a 60-30 result over Mexico to stay in contention, before losing 47-38 to the Netherland in their last pool match.
Canada accounted for the Gliders 63-47 in their quarter-final match, sending Australia into a consolation match with China which the Gliders won 62-57 before losing to Great Britain in the play-off for fifth and sixth.
