AmaWheelaBoys are champions of the first edition of the Lwini Cup in Angola

Following their triumph in the Lwini Cup in Angola, the senior national men’s wheelchair basketball team is ready to take on tougher competition when the qualifiers for the 2019 IWBF Africa and the Tokyo Paralympics begin.

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The Sasol AmaWheelaBoys, as they are popularly known to their Mzansi fans, reigned supreme in the tournament to lift the prestigious trophy after defeating both Angolan teams and a Switzerland outfit.

The tournament was part of the team’s preparations for next year’s IWBF and Paralympics qualifiers. They had come up against Angola B in their first game and what should have been a straightforward match proved otherwise.
The home team was buoyed by a passionate crowd and raced to a 16–7 lead in the initial stages of the first quarter. However, the AmaWheelaBoys showed their class and rallied in the remaining quarters to clinch the match 67–31.
The biggest challenge of the tournament was always going to be Switzerland. The Swiss team was missing several of their key regular players due to club commitments, an opportunity which the AmaWheelaBoys took full advantage of.
The South Africans dominated from the outset with the Swiss struggling to keep up the pace, and ultimately wrapped up an emphatic 60–29 victory.
Things were evenly poised ahead of the last match of the tournament. Angola had defeated both their opponents convincingly in the lead up to the final match. In a winner takes all clash, room for error was marginal.
The AmaWheelaBoys stepped up a gear to deliver yet another commanding display of wheelchair basketball spearheaded by forward Steven Walgenbach and vice-captain Thandile Zonke.
The team also demonstrated some good defensive abilities and finishing to outwit their opponents with the match ending 70–40 in favour of the South Africans.
AmaWheelaBoys coach Lydia Dumond, on arrival back home, told North Eastern Tribune she was pleased with the outcome of the tournament.

“We worked hard throughout the year and it’s immensely satisfying seeing our hard work reap rewards,” she said.
“We knew that it wasn’t going to be easy, but we implemented the little things we worked on to good effect.”

Centre player, Thabane Tshange echoed the words of Dumond. “It was a good display from the boys, our preparation was key in the outcome of this tournament. We brought youngsters to the tournament to give them some game time ahead of the 2019 IWBF Africa and Paralympics qualifiers that will take place next year and we are impressed by what we’ve seen from them.”

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Sasol brand marketing manager Nozipho Mbatha was full of praise for the newly crowned champions. “The Sasol AmaWheelaBoys have done us so proud and it’s great to see all their hard work paying off. We look forward to continuing this journey with them.”