Canadian Women Beat Denmark in Quarter-Finals but Lose to USA in Semis; Canada Will Play Sweden Tomorrow for Bronze Medal

(Sheffield, England – June 24th 2010) – The Canadian Women’s Goalball Team have qualified for the bronze medal match at the 2010 International Blind Sports Federation’s (IBSA) 2010 Goalball World Championships.  The Team won their quarter-final match against Denmark 3 – 1 with what Canadian Blind Sports High Performance Head Coach Janice Dawson called a “flawless execution of the game-plan.”  The Canadians then had a tough draw in the semi-finals, facing the 2008 Paralympic Champions from the USA, where they lost 4 – 1.

“While disappointed at not advancing to gold medal round, the women have shown great improvement throughout the tournament, and have worked hard to establish a solid foundation,” stated Coach Dawson. “This is a completely new team from the one in Beijing and past championships. Only 2 team members have previously played at a Paralympics or World Championship, and the other 4, two of whom are still juniors [aged 20 or under], have gained invaluable experience. This revitalized team of young players is well on track for a victory at the 2012 Paralympic Games."                                             

The Canadian Women’s Goalball Team will now play Sweden in the bronze medal match tomorrow, Friday June 25th at 1:00 pm GMT.  The Canadians defeated Sweden 6 – 0 yesterday in their final preliminary game, and will be looking to replicate that victory.  Making the match even more important, the 3 medalists at the 2010 IBSA Goalball World Championships automatically qualify for the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, England.

If you wish to listen to the live audio broadcast of the bronze medal game please visit the Audio Network at http://pressakey.net/wc2010/.

CORRECTION: The Canadian Men’s Goalball Team will face off in their final match of the tournament in the 9 / 10 game against Slovenia at 10:00 am GMT tomorrow Friday June 25th not today as published in yesterday’s release.  We apologize for the error.  That game is also available via audio broadcast at the Audio Network.

The Canadian Blind Sports Women’s National Goalball Team for the 2010 IBSA Goalball World Championships is:

Amy Kneebone (Resides: Ottawa, ON / From: Charlottetown, PEI)
Nancy Morin (Longueil, QC)
Whitney Burk (Ottawa, ON)
Shawn Marsolais (New Westminster, BC)
Cassie Orgeles (St. Catharines, ON)
Jillian MacSween (Resides: Brantford Ontario / From: Halifax, NS)

High Performance Head Coach Janice Dawson (Calgary, AB)
Women’s Coach Annie Pouliot (Gatineau, QC)

The Canadian Blind Sports Men’s National Goalball Team for the 2010 IBSA Goalball World Championships is:

Mario Caron (St-Eustache, QC)
Brendan Gaulin (Resides: Vancouver, BC / From; Montreal, QC)
Bruno Haché (Dorval, QC)
Doug Ripley (New Westminster, BC)
Jeff Christy (Ottawa, ON)
Simon Tremblay (Val-Bélair, QC)

High Performance Head Coach Janice Dawson (Calgary, AB)
Men’s Coach Danny Snow (Calgary, AB)

Canadian results will be available daily, and a final recap of all the action will be available at the tournament’s end at www.canadianblindsports.ca.
The official website for the event is www.worldgoalball2010.com.  Results are being posted regularly through the event’s Twitter account at http://twitter.com/worldgoalball.

The Audio Sports Network’s Bill Teale will be providing live play-by-play throughout the event at http://pressakey.net/wc2010/

More information about the Paralympic Sport of Goalball is available at www.canadianblindsports.ca with a short promo video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sjoe5yD7TI.

Canadian Blind Sports is the recognized national sports organization for Goalball in Canada and advocates within the sport system on behalf of Canadians who are blind / visually impaired.
Goalball is a fast-paced, Paralympic sport played by athletes who have a visual impairment or who are blind.  Played three on three, on a volley-ball size court, players track the ball by sound as they throw and defend blistering shots upwards of 80 kilometers per hour.

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For more information on the Canadian Blind Sports Association please visit: www.canadianblindsports.ca.