Opal Taylor's finals hopes on ice
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Injury worries: Opals player Penny Taylor. (AAP: Jack Atley)
Key Opals player Penny Taylor and her team-mates will endure a nervous wait after she was injured in Australia's 79-46 quarter-final thumping of the Czech Republic.
Taylor rolled her ankle in the third quarter of the match, injuring a ligament. She was able to walk from the court, with some assistance, after the match.
After the match, team medic Dr Scott Burne said there was a chance that Taylor may recover in time for the Opals' semi-final against China.
"I'm actually hopeful that she'll be getting on court in the next game but I'm a lot more certain as far as the final [goes]," Dr Burne said.
"Penny has a fairly typical lateral ligament injury," he said. "She has injured one of the two ligaments on the outside of her ankle.
"The great news is she's able to walk on it. It doesn't even look like she'll need an x-ray. And she's actually icing it back in the village now," he said.
"At this stage it's in the early point of her injury - it's ice, compression, elevation.
"We'll have a better idea tomorrow [Wednesday] how she's going."
Dr Burne says Taylor is very tough. "Penny's very confident of playing. She's dying to get back out there and score some points.
Coach Jan Stirling was not too fazed by the setback.
"It's a hiccup in the planning stages," she said. "But Penny's pretty strong with injuries. If she can get on court, she'll be on court."
