Basketball: Anderson one step closer to landing berth in London

Capital basketball star Rose Anderson’s chances of making the final 12 in the Great Britain women’s team for the London Olympics appear to have risen considerably after she was picked in the 12 to contest a three-day tournament in Ankara this weekend.

GB play South Korea today, Argentina tomorrow and hosts Turkey on Sunday with further games to come in Prague and China as their hectic preparation programme continues.

With only one naturalised player allowed in the final squad, GB’s Aussie coach Tom Maher, has, as expected, cut Steph Gandy, the American-born player in favour of Australian-born point guard Natalie Stafford, who had an outstanding weekend for Team GB against Canada at Meadowbank last weekend, picking up the MVP award.

The other player to drop out is guard Lauren Thomas-Johnson while centre Kim Butler, who missed the two games versus Canada through injury, is expected to be fit enough to resume.