MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Ten players from Australia’s Tokyo 2020 bronze medal-winning side have been named in an extended 22-man squad for the Paris Olympics, including Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, Josh Green, Dante Exuma and Jock Landale.
There are 10 NBA-based players in coach Brian Goorjian’s squad, which also includes Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels. The squad will be trimmed to 12 players before a pre-Games training camp in July.
Brooklyn Nets point guard Ben Simmons was not named in the squad as he is still recovering from back surgery. Simmons has never played at the Olympics for Australia but said he had planned to compete in Paris before his most recent injury.
The Boomers are coming off a 10th-place finish at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, but secured automatic qualification for Paris as the highest-finishing team from Oceania.
Goorjian will lead the Boomers to a fourth Olympics as head coach.
“The World Cup in 2023 marked a new beginning for the Boomers,” Goorjian said Thursday. “We were able to introduce some new faces and identify areas that we needed to advance and improve, We’ve been actively monitoring the Aussie players across international leagues in U.S., Europe and Asia as well as domestically in the NBL and we’re confident in the potential chemistry of this list."
Australia will play in Group A at the Paris Games. Its only confirmed opponent in that group so far is Canada.
The other two teams will come from qualifying tournaments. One is in Greece — either Greece, Slovenia, New Zealand, Croatia, Egypt and the Dominican Republic, and the other is in Spain — one of Spain, Lebanon, Angola, Finland, Poland and Bahamas.
Australia opens play against the Spain qualifier on July 27. There are 12 teams in the group phase with eight advancing to the medal round. The men's gold medal final is scheduled for Aug. 10 at Bercy Arena in Paris.
Australia Olympic squad: Dyson Daniels, Matthew Dellavedova, Xavier Cooks, Dante Exum, Sam Froling, Johnny Furphy, Josh Giddey, Chris Goulding, Josh Green, Joe Ingles, Nick Kay, Jock Landale, Will Magnay, Will McDowell-White, Jack McVeigh, Patty Mills, Keanu Pinder, Duop Reath, Matisse Thybulle, Dejan Vasiljevic, Jack White, Rocco Zikarsky.
AP Paris Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
Houston Rockets center Jock Landale, center, pulls in a rebound between Golden State Warriors guard Chris Paul, left, and forward Kevon Looney, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Josh Giddey, right, drives against Charlotte Hornets guard Tre Mann (23) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, April 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
Miami Heat guard Patty Mills (88) brings the ball up the court after stealing a pass against the Portland Trail Blazers during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, March 29, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Jim Rassol)
SINGAPORE (AP) — New Zealand won back-to-back doubles to close out the regular season in the world rugby sevens series, adding the men’s and women’s Singapore titles on Sunday to their dual successes last month in Hong Kong.
Michaela Blyde scored a hat-trick in the 31-21 win over Australia in the women’s final, giving the New Zealanders a fourth consecutive title in the series and top spot in the regular season standings — two points clear of their trans-Tasman rivals.
Dylan Collier’s All Blacks Sevens held off Ireland 17-14 in the men’s final to move into third place in the season standings. Argentina, despite placing fifth in Singapore, held on to clinch its first regular-season title in the global sevens series.
The top eight teams after the regular season have secured places in the 2025 series and will head to the season finals starting May 31 in Madrid to play off for gold. The teams ranked 9th to 12th will go into playoffs in Madrid for core places in the 2025 series.
After the season finale in Madrid, the Olympic sevens tournament in Paris takes priority.
The New Zealand teams are going to the Olympics in July in hot form.
The women closed the regular world sevens series with consecutive titles in Vancouver, Las Vegas, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Blyde scored in the first and last minutes of the first half of the final and added a third as her team regained the lead after trailing Australia 14-12 at the break.
Jorja Miller set Portia Woodman on course for a try that extended New Zealand's lead and also created a try for Stacey Waaka that secured the win.
Miller, voted player of the final, said the New Zealanders were well aware of the significance of the Singapore stop.
“It's been a rollercoaster,” she said. “We know what we need to do to peak at the right time, so it's nice to see it paying off.”
New Zealand skipper Risi Pouri-Lane said her team had been building toward a peak.
“There's still two big events coming up — in Madrid and then Olympics,” she said. “So we've got to keep building, keep that consistency.”
New Zealand finished with 126 points, two clear of Australia and 22 clear of third-place France, which beat Fiji 29-7 in the third-place playoff in Singapore.
The U.S. women placed fourth in the season standings on 85 points, despite slumping to 10th place in Singapore following a run to the final in Hong Kong.
Britain went into the weekend needing to perform well to finish in the top eight in the men's and women's competitions.
The British women did just enough to secure eighth, holding off Brazil and Japan, and the men edged the U.S. men's team by one point for eighth place in the standings by beating Australia 26-7 in the third-place playoff in Singapore.
The British men lost a semifinal 15-12 to Ireland after it finished 12-12 in regular time, leaving the Irish with a slim chance of finish top of the standings.
But Argentina, which beat New Zealand in the group stage on Friday, ensured it would finish No. 1 when it rallied from a 10-0 deficit to beat South Africa 14-10 in the fifth-place playoff.
Ireland placed second, followed by New Zealand, Australia and Fiji, the two-time Olympic gold medlist.
Argentina was well clear in the standings after the first four of seven stops in the regular season, opening with a run to the final in Dubai before winning three straight titles. In the end, Argentina held off Ireland by two points after failing to reach the semifinals in the last three tournaments.
“The journey was really difficult. We kept on trying, kept on training, kept on believing in this team and I think we have the prize that we deserve," Argentina captain Gaston Revol said. "It’s incredible to be here at this moment."
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Risi Pouri-Lane of New Zealand tackles Isabella Nasser of Australia during the women's World Rugby Sevens Series 2024 cup final between Australia and New Zealand, in Singapore, on Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)
Terry Kennedy of Ireland tackles Regan Ware of New Zealand, during the men's World Rugby Sevens Series 2024 cup final between Ireland and New Zealand in Singapore, on Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)
Michaela Blyde of New Zealand, center, runs and scores a try during the women's World Rugby Sevens Series 2024 cup final between Australia and New Zealand in Singapore, on Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)
Team New Zealand celebrate winning the men's World Rugby Sevens Series 2024 cup final between Ireland and New Zealand in Singapore, on Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)
Team New Zealand wins the women's HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2024 cup final between Australia and New Zealand in Singapore, on Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)
