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The Australian wheelchair rugby team has qualified for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Needing victory over Brazil in the semi-final of the Paralympic Qualification Tournament on Saturday, the Steelers delivered a ruthless performance on their way to a 62 – 37 victory in Wellington, New Zealand.
Steelers captain Chris Bond led from the front and his team responded, forcing 10 turnovers in the first half and conceding just one of their own to muscle the Brazilians out of the contest.
Celebrations from the Australians were somewhat subdued at full-time though, an ominous signal for their rivals in Paris that qualification is a just a minor step towards their major goal in 2024, a Paralympic gold medal.
“We were the highest ranked team coming in, but in sport anything can happen on any day. So it’s just a massive relief to book that ticket to Paris,” Bond said.
“The fact that we had to come through this qualification process is new for us, it’s a different journey. I wouldn’t say we were nervous, we were excited we finally got our shot this game to make it to the Games and we made it count.
“We want to be at the Paralympic Games. We feel like we should be there and we’re medal contenders.”
Paris will be Bond’s fourth Paralympic Games. He has experienced euphoric highs with gold medals from Rio 2016 and London 2012 and the bitter disappointment of a fourth-place finish in Tokyo 2020.
Now preparing for his first Paralympics as Steelers captain, Bond wants nothing more than to hear the Australian anthem at the Paris 2024 medal ceremony.
“I’m excited to lead this team into a Paralympic Games,” he said. “I think I’ve achieved pretty much everything else in the sport. I’ve got a great ex-leader here in Ryley [Batt], who helps me out big-time. He’s done it, he captained the Steelers, he’s captained the whole Australian Paralympic Team.
“I get my chance now in Paris and I’m looking forward to it and really working towards getting the group together and really gelling and bonding as a unit so we’re in our best position to win.
Paris 2024 ended a tortuous eight-month wait for the Steelers, who missed their first chance last July by losing the Asia Oceania Championship final against Japan in Tokyo.
Arriving in Wellington as the highest ranked team in the world still without a Paris ticket, the Steelers had point to prove.
They won each of their pool matches this week against Switzerland, Colombia and Germany by 10 goals or more before dismantling Brazil.
Ryley Batt, who made his 341st appearance for the Steelers, said he was beyond excited to now have an opportunity to compete at his sixth Paralympic Games. While retired 0.5 star Naz Erdem also went to five Games, no Australian wheelchair rugby player has yet been selected for six.
Australia’s first game will be on August 29, just 159 days away.
“It’s an unreal feeling,” Batt said. “It hasn’t sunk in yet because there is one more game to go in this tournament, but knowing we have definitely secured that ticket to Paris is something special.
“I haven’t actually thought about becoming the first Steeler to go to six Paralympic Games. That would be pretty cool.
“If I’m selected, I’d be really excited, but I also know how much work we still have to do to be the best team we possibly can be at the Paralympics.
“It has been weird. We’re the World Champions, we won the World Cup, we’re one of the top teams, yet we hadn’t qualified. It’s made things harder for our families, trying to book trips to Paris and accommodation and things like that, it’s been hard to commit.
“But they now they get online, book their Qantas flights and go straight to Paris with certainty. That’s a good feeling for me, my family and friends will be there because they couldn’t go to Tokyo due to Covid.”
The Steelers will hope to put the icing on a successful tournament when they contest the gold medal final on Sunday. They await the winner of the semi-final between Canada and Germany contested on Saturday.
The two semi-final losers will play for the bronze medal, with the eighth spot in the eight-team draw for the Paris Paralympics Games going to the winner.
Paris 2024 Paralympic Qualifying Tournament
Wellington, New Zealand
Saturday March 23
Semi-Finals
Australia 62 defeated Brazil 37
Canada v Germany – TBC
Australia has qualified for Paris 2024
Sunday March 24
Gold Medal Match @ 4:30pm AEDT
Australia v Canada / Germany TBC
Bronze medal match @ 11:30am AEDT
Brazil v Germany / Canada TBC
Only the bronze medal winning team earns Paris 2024 qualification
Pool A Results – Australian Steelers
Wednesday March 20
Australia 60 defeated Switzerland 40
Thursday March 21
Australia 55 defeated Colombia 45
Friday March 22
Australia 60 defeated Germany 43
By: Tim Mannion, Paralympics Australia
Published: 23 March 2024
