The Boomers have been given a scare on the eve of the FIBA World Cup — and it’s had nothing to do with player injuries.
The Boomers are set to play Finland in their first match of the World Cup in Japan but received a 4am wake up call no one wants to receive.
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The Daily Telegraph reported that in the wee hours of the morning, residents in Okinawa were messaged by Japan’s national alert system, which automatically triggers an alarm.
The message read: “Emergency Alert: Missile launch. Missile launch. A missile is believed to have been launched from North Korea”.
But 13 minutes later, there was another alert which read: “Missile passed. Missile passed. It is believed that the previous missile passed into the Pacific Ocean at around 4am.”
“We will cancel the call for evacuation. Never approach anything suspicious and immediately contact the police and fire departments.”
A siren and public alert also sounded to announce the details.
The “missile” was North Korea’s failed second attempt to put a spy satellite in orbit.
The South Korean military said it detected the launch of the purported space rocket at around 3:50am and that it flew over the Yellow Sea.
It added that a search and retrieval operation for the wreckage had begun.
It’s hardly the way the Boomers would like as they complete preparations for the tournament.
The side is heading into the tournament a key NBA star down after Jock Landale went down with a horrific looking ankle injury in the final warm up game in Australia against South Sudan.
However, the World No. 3 Boomers are looking to go deep in the tournament to follow up from the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
Ranked behind only the USA and Spain, the Boomers will be a team to watch.
The Boomers were already without Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons who opted out of the World Cup, which runs from August 25 to September 10 in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines.
But they have a slew of other NBA players on board, including veteran Patty Mills and rising star Josh Giddey.
Australia finished fourth at the last World Cup in China in 2019 and have come off four wins and a loss in their warm up games.
With AFP
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