Kauri Murray edit
Kauri Ezra Murray (born 6 February 1998) is a 4.0 point wheelchair basketball player from New Zealand. He is a seven-time National Champion playing for the Auckland Wheelbreakers. He is a current veteran player in the 'Roller Blacks[1]', New Zealand Men's senior wheelchair basketball team who competed at the 2017 IWBF Asia-Oceania Championships in Beijing, China where he made his international debut, and the 2024 IWBF Asia-Oceania Championships in Bangkok, Thailand.
 Kauri Murray in 2016 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  New Zealand |
| Born | 6 February 1998 Wanganui, New Zealand |
| Sport | |
| Position | Point guard |
| Disability class | 4.0 |
| Club | Auckland Wheelbreakers |
Biography edit
Kauri Ezra Murray was born on 6 February 1998, and contracted poliomyelitis[2] at five months after reacting to the second dose of the polio vaccine. It was a rare condition at the time since New Zealand was declared polio free in 1962.[3] By the time he was 11 years old he required the use of crutches.
Murray first took up small-bore rifle shooting as a sport at the age of 14 before moving to other sports such as adaptive rowing and swimming, eventually switching to wheelchair basketball at the age of 16 when a local junior club was established.[4] In 2014 he became a member of the Auckland Wheelstarz junior club before joining the Auckland Wheelbreakers, a senior regional club in the same year. Murray adapted the game, and in 2016 at the age of 18, he competed in the A Division of the New Zealand National Championships where his team won gold. [5]
That same year he was selected for the New Zealand U23 Mens squad to compete at a development national tournament in Sydney, Australia[6]. In 2017 he won his second consecutive National Championship in Tauranga, New Zealand. Later that year, aged just 19 years, he would go on to become one of three juniors in a squad roster of 12 players to be selected in the Men's senior national team[7] for the 2017 IWBF Asia-Oceania Championships[8] in Beijing, China. They finished the tournament at eleventh place, after beating United Arab Emirates 60-42 in the playoffs[9]. [10]
In 2018, Murray was a finalist for two awards; Junior Sportsman of the Year and the Uniquely Abled Award at the Otara Sports Awards.[11]
References edit
- ^ "Roller Blacks". Roller Blacks. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
- ^ "Kauri Murray selected for NZ men's under-23 wheelchair basketball team". Stuff. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
- ^ "GPEI-Polio-Free Countries". Retrieved 2019-01-13.
- ^ "Kauri Murray selected for NZ men's under-23 wheelchair basketball team". Stuff. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
- ^ "Auckland claim further national titles". WBNZ. 2016-10-11. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
- ^ "Kauri Murray selected for NZ men's under-23 wheelchair basketball team". Stuff. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
- ^ "New Zealand's Kauri Murray truly humbled by Asia Oceania Championships experience". IWBF - International Wheelchair Basketball Federation. 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
- ^ "2017 IWBF Asia Oceania Championships for Men and Women". IWBF - International Wheelchair Basketball Federation. 2017-07-06. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
- ^ "2017 IWBF Asia Oceania Championships for Men and Women". IWBF - International Wheelchair Basketball Federation. 2017-07-06. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
- ^ "2017 IWBF Asia Oceania Championships for Men and Women". IWBF - International Wheelchair Basketball Federation. 2017-07-06. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
- ^ "Finalists named for 2018 Otara Sports Awards". OurAuckland. Retrieved 2019-01-14.