The Gliders have fallen to China on day one of the IWBF Asia Oceania Championships in Bangkok as they went down in a 48-point defeat.
The current world number two burst out of the blocks to lead Australia by 26 points at half time.
Head Coach Craig Campbell said that with all factors considered, he was impressed by the Gliders’ fighting spirit.
“The tempo of the game was really good, there were lots of positive moments and it’s one of the first games against China that we haven’t stopped, they kept fighting for every single possession all the way though - even our debutants (Jade Penney and Ebony Stevenson) were great.
Captain Hannah Dodd said while the loss was disappointing, the team knows that there are plenty of areas for improvement.
“For a team that has only had one training session and one scrimmage together, that wasn’t too bad of a start, particularly against the second-ranked team in the world. We know they’re a really hard team, we played some good defence on them but unfortunately, but they were able to nail a lot of tough shots.
“No doubt there is some work to be done, but we get to play China again in a few days so hopefully we will come back stronger.
“We have a rest day tomorrow, and as a team we will go back through the film to see what we did well and find opportunities for us to see what we can work on before we hit the court again.
“The culture in this group is really great because they are willing to take on that constructive criticism and go through and see what they can do differently next time."
“Their communication off the court and all the work the players are doing will really make a difference each time they play together,” added Campbell.
The Gliders will play Japan on Monday at 4:30pm AEDT.
All games are streamed live and free via IWBF YouTube.
