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The Australian Steelers will battle Brazil for a prized ticket to Paris 2024 when they meet in the Paralympic Qualification Tournament semi-final on Saturday in Wellington, New Zealand.
The desperate fight for the final three Paris 2024 slots on offer is now between just four teams, after the pool rounds concluded with a commanding 60-43 victory by Australia over Germany on Friday.
The 13-goal triumph sealed the top spot in Pool A for the Steelers, confirming their showdown against the Brazilians, who finished second in Pool B.
Making his 124th appearance for the Steelers, Andrew Edmondson said the performance against Germany showed his team were moving in the right direction. Their previous wins this week over Switzerland and Colombia were far from flawless.
“We have some goals in each game that we want to stick to. We missed them in the first two games by being sloppy and not playing our typical game. But we did everything right today,” Edmondson said.
“Our first two performances weren’t up to scratch, not really the Steelers’ way, but that certainly was.
“Germany worked really hard and they have some really great players but we knew our game plan and we knew that as the game went on, we would wear them down. That’s what we have done in every game here and it’s put us in a good spot so far.
“Germany are a really tough team but we did what we had to do. It was very clinical from us.”
The loss to Australia condemned the Germans to a tough assignment in the other semi-final against Canada, who completely demolished Pool B by winning each of their three matches by 16 goals or more.
But rather than worrying about who they might play on Sunday, Edmondson said the Steelers are only concentrating on one objective, victory over Brazil.
The two teams last met at the 2022 World Championship in Denmark, where the Australians hammered Brazil 57-36 before going on to win the gold medal.
“It only gets harder from here, tougher teams, bigger games for us,” Edmondson said.
“Brazil have worked hard all week. They are going to be motivated like most teams that play us. But especially when it’s a semi-final to make the Paralympics for their country, it’s a massive game.
“They are going to be pumped, we are too. But if we play like we did today, we’re going to be okay.”
The Australian Steelers will qualify for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games with victory over Brazil in the semi-final on Saturday at 1:30pm AEDT.
Defeat will leave them with just one last chance, Sunday’s bronze medal at 1:30pm, against the loser of the other semi-final between Germany and Canada.
Colombia, Switzerland, Netherlands and hosts New Zealand all lost their hopes for Paris 2024 after their final pool round matches on Friday.
Paris 2024 Paralympic Qualifying Tournament
Wellington, New Zealand
Wednesday March 20
Australia 60 defeated Switzerland 40
Thursday March 21
Australia 55 defeated Colombia 45
Friday March 22
Australia 60 defeated Germany 43
Saturday March 23
Semi-Finals
Australia vs Brazil @ 1:30pm AEDT
Canada vs Germany @ 4:00pm AEDT
Both semi-final winners secure Paris 2024 qualification
Sunday March 24
Medal Matches*
Bronze medal match @ 11:30am AEDT
Gold medal match @ 4.30pm AEDT
Bronze medal winning team also qualifies for Paris 2024
Pool A – Final Standings
Australia (ranked 2nd)
Germany (9th)
Colombia (10th)
Switzerland (12th)
Pool B – Final Standings
Canada (5th)
Brazil (ranked 11th)
Netherlands (15th)
New Zealand (8th)
By: Tim Mannion, Paralympics Australia
Published: 22 March 2024
