JANNIK Blair will help the Australian Rollers compete for a third straight International Wheelchair Basketball Federation world championships in August.
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The Horsham export was part of the final 12-player squad that was announced on Wednesday.
“It’s always an honour to be selected to represent your country,” Blair said.
“The first time is obviously the most exciting but that feeling doesn’t get old and you never get sick of it.”
The first time is obviously the most exciting but that feeling doesn’t get old.
- Jannik Blair
He was also part of the squad which won silver at the 2012 Paralympics in London and that missed out on a medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
“We really set ourselves to compete at either the Paralympics or world champs every couple of years,” Blair said.
“We finished sixth in Rio, which was a little disappointing, and as soon as that happened we were pretty quick to shift our focus forward to the next major tournament where we could get some redemption.”
If the Rollers squad is successful at the world championships it will become only the second men’s team to win three world championships in a row.
“There has been some new coaches and players come into the group in the past 18 months,” Blair said.
“We really looked at hard what let us down in Rio and we’ve made a bit of a fresh start.
“We’re going to be playing a bit more of an aggressive style in Germany, whereas in Rio we were a little reactive to things.”
Blair said as he has gained more experience within the national setup he had become more aware of what was needed to prepare.
“You also get more of an idea of what the team needs to do well to prepare,” he said.
“It’s about what you need to do to have an impact within that group as well as for yourself.
“That experience really helps your knowledge of some of the other teams as well once you get into the routine of a tournament.”
For now Blair will continue to focus on the end of the National Wheelchair Basketball League. His team, the Red Dust Heelers, currently sit fourth on the ladder.
The side will play the last-placed side Adelaide Thunder in its final three matches on July 6, 7 and 9 before the finals are played on July 20 and 21 in Cairns.
A three-day training camp will then be held in Brisbane before the squad travels to Cologne for a warm-up games against Germany, Korea and Japan.
The Rollers will come up against Argentina, Spain and the Netherlands in pool games which start of August 17.
After cross-over matches, the finals for the championships will start on August 22.
Blair said the squads first goal would be to win its way past the quarter finals.
“We want to win that in order to put ourselves in contention for a medal of some kind,” he said.
“Ultimately the goal is to win, and we believe we’ve got the squad that can take us all the way.”