Bringing home silver

By Tania Martin
HILLS basketballers Shazam have shown they are still at the top of their game, bringing home a silver medal from the World Masters Games in Sydney.
The group has been together for more than 15 years and has a handful of medals to prove it.
But this year dreams of winning back-to-back gold medals were shot down.
In 2007, Shazam won gold at the Australasian Masters Games in Adelaide and were hoping to do it again this year.
But Monbulk resident Jenni Ruigrok said it was only a matter of a few points that separated them from gold.
“It was a challenging match … we beat them in the pool rounds but we lost the gold medal but only by a couple of points,” she said.
But the team was still thrilled to bring home silver in the over-35 age group of the competition.
The World Masters Games were held from 10 to 18 October in Sydney and are held every four years.
They first started in Toronto, Canada, in a bid to give people of all abilities and ages a chance to shine at their chosen sport.
Shazam’s Carolyn Lacandro flew to Sydney from her home in Hong Kong to rejoin her teammates.
Sarah Dillion and Nicci Jones didn’t have to go from their homes in New South Wales to don their Shazam purple and gold colours.
Ruigrok said the girls had played together more than 15 years and remained great friends on and off the court.
They get together twice a week to play in the domestic competition at Knox Basketball Stadium.
Ruigrok said the team was now hoping to do even better at the next world’s in Italy in 2013.
Anyone interested in sponsoring the team for the competition should contact Ruigrok on 9756 7744.