Horsham's Jannik Blair has won selection to play wheelchair basketball in next year's Paralympics, originally scheduled for August, but postponed until August 2021.

Blair plays for Bilbao BSR in Spain.

Rollers Head Coach Craig Friday is looking at how the postponement of the Paralympics will benefit the squad and open more opportunity to the athletes.

“I’m really excited that given the postponement of the Paralympics from 2020 to 2021 we get the chance to open the squad up for another year,” Friday said.

The Rollers last won gold at the Paralympics in 2008 and bought home silver in 2004 and 2012.

The team will be looking for redemption following the 2016 Games in Rio, which saw the green and gold fall short in the quarter-finals.

The Rollers squad have eight previous Paralympians, with veteran Tristan Knowles and Rollers team captain Shaun Norris looking to Tokyo to play their fifth Games, and Brett Stibners aiming at his fourth.

Norris has been playing wheelchair basketball for around 25 years and has been a part of the Australian team since the raw age of 16. Now the captain of the Rollers, Norris also looks forward to opening the squad back up and being able to train hard with his team once nation-wide restrictions ease.

“The impact of COVID19 and interstate travel restrictions have made it difficult for us as we tried to organise camps and training over the past couple of months.

“However, the push to 2021 for Tokyo has its positives, and it will allow us to open the squad up to all our players, providing the whole group more opportunity to work hard and prove to the team that they can make it,” says Norris.

The eight veterans are joined by 18 Rollers who will be training hard to earn a spot on the team and achieve their debut Paralympic Games.  – Basketball Australia.

The Rollers Squad: