The four national teams Great Britain, USA, Australia and Japan took part in the Kitakyushu Champions Cup between Friday 18th to Sunday 20th November 2016. Playing eight matches in total they fought to win Gold. The results between teams were very close, but in the end host nation Japan won 59 - 47 against Great Britain Juniors in the final. Whilst in the bronze match, Australia Spinners beat USA, 75 – 61.
The tournament was played at the Kitakyushu City General Gymnasium. The players who participated in the ‘Kitakyushu Champions Cup’ this year had to be under 33 years old to develop new talent for the national teams. The hosts were the City of Kitakyushu, the Japan Wheelchair Basketball Federation, the Kitakyushu Sports Association for the Disabled and the Kitakyushu Welfare Agency.
Great Britain’s Captain Gregg Warburton said, “Once again another amazing tournament. This was the 3rd time playing in the Kitakyushu Champions Cup for some of our guys like myself and it just gets better and better each year. The best organised and most professional friendly tournament I've attended and it was great to add another medal to the previous years. It was tough to lose in the final against the hosts but they very much deserved the win and we look forward to many more battles along the way.”
Japan’s Naohiro Murakami said “The Kitakyushu Champions Cup was a great experience for member of our Under 23 team to gain experience against some of the most competitive teams in the world. As all the U23 teams prepare for qualification tournaments for the World U23 Championships next year this tournament provided a great opportunity to get some match practice. We believed that we were strong enough to get to the finals and were up against a tough Great Britain, but we are very pleased with the results.”
The results of all games:
18 Nov
- Japan 65 vs 47 USA
- Great Britain 59 vs 47 Australia
19 Nov
- Great Britain 32 vs 59 Japan
- USA 56 vs 50 Australia
20 Nov
- Australia 48 vs 52 Japan
- USA 41 vs 62 Great Britain
- Bronze: Australia 75 vs 61 USA
- Gold: Japan 59 vs 47 Great Britain
