Record Dandy contingent makeOpals squad for China

THE Australian women’s basketball team, the Opals, has moved another step closer to a World Championship gold medal, announcing a 12-woman team to tour China at the end of June.
After a four-day camp in Geelong, over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, Opals coach Jan Stirling named a team to play China, Russia and the Czech Republic during the 11-day tour.
The four teams will compete in the FIBA World Championship for Women in Brazil this September and the matches will give the Opals a taste of what to expect if they want to win their first World Championship crown.
The team to tour China includes seven athletes from the Commonwealth Game gold medal winning side.
The squad includes Dandenong players Jacinta Hamilton, Kathleen Macleod, Emily McInerny, Emma Randall and Carly Wilson, with the club being the best represented in the group.
Stirling has given youngsters including 19-year-old Renae Camino and her former AIS and Australian U19 World Championship teammate, Kathleen Macleod a chance to impress.
The Opals fly to China on 27 June and play a four-nations tournament in Baoshan, Shanghai. They take on China on 30 June, Russia on 1 July 1 and the Czech Republic on 2 July.
They then move onto Luoyang and will play another three matches against the teams between 4 and 6 July.
The squad will regroup for a camp in Australia in late July and will leave for an extended tour in late August in the lead-up to the World Championship tip-off against Lithuania on 12 September.
The World Championship team will be named in late July.
The Opals team for China is:
Jacinta Hamilton (Dandenong), Hollie Grima (Bulleen Melbourne), Katrina Hibbert (Bulleen Melbourne), Alicia Poto (Sydney Uni), Renae Camino (Townsville), Deanna Smith (Perth), Kathleen Macleod (Dandenong), Emily McInerny (Dandenong), Emma Randall (Dandenong), Jennifer Screen (Adelaide), Carly Wilson (Dandenong) and Jenny Whittle (Canberra).