Sydney University Football Club wheelchair athletes Andrew Edmondson OAM and Ryley Batt OAM won bronze medals at the Paris Paralympic Games when the Australian Steelers defeated Great Britain in the play-off for third at the Champ-de-Mars Arena last night .
The Steelers then went on to post a 55-53 win over France and a 53-49 result over Denmark to make the semi-finals. Unfortunately being beat by a strong Japan outfit 52-51.
This set up the clash with Great Britain, with the two teams evenly poised through the contest. They were deadlocked at each break leading into the final quarter before the Australians made their move.
With Great Britain were on the attack a minute into the quarter, Steelers captain Ryley Batt forced the mistake and turnover to give Australia a chance to build a two-point lead. They held the advantage to win 50-48 securing the medal.
The Steelers then went on to post a 55-53 win over France and a 53-49 result over Denmark to make the semi-finals.
“It’s very good but a bit bittersweet thought,” Batt told the Nine Network after the semi-final loss. “We probably should be playing in the final but unfortunately for those little errors.
“The guys and girls bounced back and it’s actually incredible the amount of people in Australia that have sent so much support. It’s good that we bounced back and got this medal. Coming into these Paralympics I was pretty content with getting a medal with the quality we had here.
“Yeah, it’s not gold, but we’ll take the bronze, we’ll take the rose gold. I’ve now got the full set — two gold, one silver and a bronze — and a few world titles. I’m pretty happy with that.”
Batt made his debut for the Steelers in 2002 and was part of the Australian team at the 2004 Athens Games as a 15-year-old. He won silver with the Steelers at the 2008 Beijing Games and gold at the 2012 London Games. He was named co-captain of the Steelers at the 2020 Tokyo Games where he was a flag bearer at the opening ceremony.
Edmondson made his international’s debut in 2014 and his Paralympic Games debut at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games where the Steelers backed up their World Championship title with Games gold. He was a member of the Steelers at the Tokyo Games where they lost 60-52 to Japan in the bronze medal game.
