Basketball: Olympic lift for Anderson and Buchan

Published on Friday 15 May 2009 10:00

SCOTS basketball hopes Rose Anderson and Mairi Buchan have had their chances of playing in the London 2012 Olympics boosted by the news that top Aussie coach Tom Maher has been hired by Great Britain to take charge of the British women's campaign to qualify.

Maher has an outstanding Olympic record, steering Australia women to the silver medal in the Sydney 2000 Olympics and New Zealand to their highest-ever finish of eighth in Athens in 2004 before hoisting China from nowhere to fourth in last year's Beijing Olympics.

Portobello's Anderson, currently playing for Central Oklahoma University, and Falkirk's Buchan, who is at Old Dominion in Virginia, have both been included in a British squad of 15 to prepare for the World University Games in Belgrade in July.

The British women's 2012 chances have been further boosted by FibaEurope's decision to allow them to stay in division A of the European Championships after they were originally relegated from the upper tier following the extra tournament in January this year.

Explaining his decision to take the GB job Maher, currently coaching the Bulleen Boomers in the Australian Women's League, said: "Who wouldn't want to coach a home nation in the Olympics."

Meanwhile, Buchan is the lone Scot in the Great Britain under-20 men's and women's squads announced by British Basketball for this summer's Euro B Championships.