7
Jul
Asia U16 Cup
Sapphires select team for U16 Asia Cup
The victorious Australian team from the 2024 FIBA U15 Women's Oceania Cup. Photo: FIBA.
Basketball Australia has announced the team for the U16 Sapphires' Asia Cup in September.
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Basketball Australia has announced the 12 athletes selected to represent the Sapphires at the 2025 FIBA Under-16 Women’s Asia Cup, taking place in Malaysia from 22 to 28 September.
The tournament is a key milestone in the junior national pathway, with the top four finishers earning qualification for the 2026 FIBA Under-17 Women’s World Cup.
The Asia Cup will feature competition from across the region, including powerhouse nations Japan, China and Korea.
Australia enters the event with strong momentum after claiming gold at the 2024 FIBA U15 Oceania Cup, where they delivered a dominant 93–44 win over New Zealand in the final. That performance not only secured their place in the Asia Cup but also highlighted the impressive depth of emerging talent across the country.
“Picking this final team was as tall of an order as I’ve had as a coach, on account of the depth of skill and character on hand,” said Sapphires Head Coach Tom Garlepp.
“The 12 players selected for the Asia Cup demonstrated a toughness and togetherness that I feel the country will be proud of when they watch them play.”
The 2025 squad includes six returning players from the victorious Oceania Cup campaign and features four athletes from Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence in Canberra.
The team recently came together for a high-performance training camp at the CoE in June as part of their ongoing preparations.
“As a staff, we’ll look to ensure the girls have as much support and clarity as possible about what we’ll be about as a team, and their individual role within that,” Garlepp said.
“No doubt they’ll all be sharpening their skills where possible, but in short, we want to set them up to give the tournament our best crack.”
Australia has a proud record at this level, having won three gold medals since joining the FIBA Asia region in 2017, 2022 and 2023, and will be looking to build on that success.
“I expect a high-quality tournament,” Garlepp added.
“The Asian nations will no doubt bring high-level skill and an intense playstyle. New Zealand have also grown as a group since the Oceania Championships and will be tough. We’ll be looking to simply go for it as best we can and grow stronger with each opportunity.”
Sapphires team for FIBA Asia U16 Cup
Eden Catip (QLD)
Marianna Fakalata (VIC)
Daisy Hocking (SA)
Jemyma Manyok (QLD)
Lily Mapp (QLD)
Mya Moke (QLD)
Olivia Olechnowicz (QLD)
Sophie Richardson (VIC)
Madison Ryan (VIC)
Laura Seiz (VIC)
Isabel Smith (QLD)
Matilda Trout (VIC)
