Opals Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament Squad Announced
Basketball Australia have announced the Chemist Warehouse Australian Opals squad of 19 for their Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament, held from November 10 to 18.
The Tournament will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and represents the new qualification system.
Pre-Olympic qualification tournaments will be held in the other zones simultaneously including the Pan American and African zones.
Head Coach Sandy Brondello said that the tournament was an exciting opportunity to see the level of competition the team can expect at the Olympics next July, and the 19-strong squad gives plenty of opportunity for varying combinations to select from.
“As we enter the next Qualifier for the Asian Zone, we have named a squad of 19 athletes from which the final 12 will be selected from. It is great to include Liz (Cambage), Marianna (Tolo) and Kelsey (Griffin) back in the mix after they missed the Asia Cup due to injuries and WNBA.
The recent Asia Cup showed us areas that we need to be better at and these upcoming games with our best team possible, will give us valuable training and games experiences so that we can continue to improve our team chemistry and execution.”
The full 19-member named squad list is as follows:
| NAME | CURRENT TEAM |
| Rebecca Allen | Arka Gdynia Poland / New York Liberty |
| Abby Bishop | JCU Townsville Fire |
| Sara Blicavs | Southside Flyers |
| Elizabeth Cambage | China / Las Vegus Aces |
| Katie-Rae Ebzery | Perth Lynx |
| Darcee Garbin | JCU Townsville Fire |
| Cayla George | Deakin University Melbourne Boomers |
| Kelsey Griffin | University of Canberra Capitals |
| Tessa Lavey | Bendigo Spirit |
| Tess Madgen | JCU Townsville Fire |
| Ezi Magbegor | Deakin University Melbourne Boomers |
| Leilani Mitchell | Southside Flyers |
| Lauren Nicholson | Adelaide Lightning |
| Jenna O’Hea | Southside Flyers |
| Nicole Seekamp | Adelaide Lightning |
| Steph Talbot | Adelaide Lightning/Minnesota Lynx |
| Marianna Tolo | University of Canberra Capitals |
| Tahlia Tupaea | Bryden Sydney Uni Flames |
| Sami Whitcomb | BLMA France / Seattle Storm |
The Opals will in the following:
| DATE | TIP OFF TIME | GAME | VENUE | LOCATION |
| 14 November | 16:00 | AUS v TPE | MABA Stadium | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| 16 November | 16:00 | IND v AUS | ||
| 17 November | 16:00 | JPN v AUS |
The final 12 selection will be announced in late October.