Injury has ruled Australian basketball star Liz Cambage out of the World Championship in a massive blow for the Opals.
Basketball Australia confirmed on Sunday Cambage suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon during a warm-up match against the USA in France on Friday.
The towering 23-year-old centre scored nine points and had nine rebounds against the Americans before getting hurt early in the second quarter with scans on Saturday showing the extent of the injury.
Australia's coach Brendan Joyce said he felt for Cambage who sacrificed playing for the Tulsa Shock this past WNBA season to commit totally to training with Australia for the world champions which commence in Turkey next week.
"I feel gutted for Liz to suffer this injury so close to the start of the tournament after the mountain of work she has put in to get to this point," he said.
"Liz has been at every camp and on every tour as part of the preparation since March, and has shown remarkable dedication to the program.
"Liz brings an infectious energy and enthusiasm to the team, and we will ensure we channel that into everything we do for the remainder of the campaign."
The Australians, who won bronze at the 2012 London Olympics, are already missing Lauren Jackson due to injury leaving them depleted in the frontcourt.
Joyce said he was confident the Opals would be able to cope with Cambage's loss.
"A player of Liz's calibre cannot be easily replaced, but we have a talented and resilient team that will share the load and adapt to this new challenge," he said.
Cambage will return to Australia in the coming days where a full assessment of the injury and recovery timetable will be established.
A replacement for Cambage will be named shortly with Australia to open their World Championship campaign in Turkey against Cuba next Saturday.
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