Women to play GB, men will face Austria on Sunday
The Canadian women punched their ticket to the semifinals at the IWBF 3×3 Open World Championships after securing back-to-back wins on Saturday in Sun City, South Africa.
Team Canada capped off pool play, cruising past South Africa 2 with a 17–3 victory to claim the top spot in Pool B.
“We had a bit of a slow start to get things moving, but I think we had a chance to work on different looks for different athletes,” said Puisand Lai.
In the quarterfinals, Canada advanced past South Africa 1 with a commanding 21–3 win to book their spot in Sunday’s final four.
“I think we’re going to meet some tougher competitors, so we’re going to have to step up our game for the next few matches,” said Elodie Tessier. “Honestly, the team’s performing well and we can’t wait for the next stage.”
The women’s team will face Great Britain in Sunday’s semifinals at 6:20 a.m. EDT/3:20 a.m. PDT.
On the men’s side, Canada cruised past Kenya with a dominant 21-5 win in the Round of 16 to secure a spot in the quarterfinals.
“It was good to play a game today before the quarterfinals, just to get in the rhythm of the game,” said Vincent Dallaire.
In the quarterfinals, Team Canada edged out Australia 12-9 in a hard-fought battle to book its spot in Sunday’s semifinals.
“It was really fast,” Dallaire said. “It was one of the fastest games we’ve played yet. We played exactly the way we wanted to, so it was good for us.
“Another good match tomorrow. Play exactly like we did tonight. We executed the game plan as planned. We could make a few more layups, but other than that, it’s exactly how we wanted to play.”
Canada will play Austria in the semifinals on Sunday at 6:45 a.m. EDT/3:45 a.m. PDT. Team Canada met Austria in pool play on Friday and squeezed out a 17-15 overtime win.
Hosted by Wheelchair Basketball South Africa, the 2025 IWBF 3×3 Open World Championships is the first-ever 3×3 wheelchair basketball world championship. The tournament celebrates the growth of 3×3 wheelchair basketball and offers smaller nations an opportunity to shine on the global stage.
This is the second 3×3 tournament for Canada’s wheelchair basketball teams. The women won gold and the men took silver at the sport’s debut at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
Full schedule and results can be found here. Select photos from the 3×3 Open World Championships are available here.