After two disappointing losses the Canadian Boccia National Team made some impressive shots to come back strong to finish the first day with 5 wins and 3 losses at the CPISRA 2011 Boccia World Cup in Belfast, Ireland.
With one day remaining to complete the round robins in Team BC1/BC2, and Pair BC4, Canada is in position to move from their pools to the quarter finals. The BC3 Pair has already secured a position in the quarter finals.
Alison Kabush (Surrey, BC), Paul Gauthier (Vancouver, BC) and Bruno Garneau (Montreal, QC) completed their pool play today in the BC3 category. They beat Thailand 5-3 during their last game of the round-robin to secure top spot in their pool. In a must win situation, the three players had their best games. “We were really focused for this game even though it was our last pool game”, said Kabush. “Because Thailand is so competitive we needed this win”, added Mario Delisle, Head Coach of the National Team Program. “Bruno and Paul had good first balls in every end and were calm and in control. They secured the win with 5 points scored in the 3m zone of the court during the second and third ends”. The Quarter Finals will start tomorrow.
Team BC1/BC2 members Francois Bourbonniere (Montreal, QC), Adam Dukovich (London, ON), Tammy McLeod (London, ON), Keven Smith-Worthylake (Ottawa, ON) and Brock Richardson (Brampton, ON) started their tournament on the right note by beating Norway 7-3. They scored 4 points in the 5th end to seal the deal. They followed this game with a 11-1 lost against first ranked Spain and a 7-1 win versus Slovenia. They will complete their round robin play tomorrow against South Africa.
In the BC4 Category, Marco Dispaltro (St-Jerome, QC), Josh Vander Vies (Sarnia, ON) and Caroline Vietnieks (Surrey, BC) had a record of one win and one loss. They lost 7-6 against Portugal after leading 6-3 with one end to play. They rebounded nicely with a 5-1 win against Hong Kong. They will face China tomorrow morning when their pool play continues.
Follow the Canadian athletes at www.ccpsa.ca, on the CCPSA facebook page or at http://www.sportsulster.com/boccia2011.php.
The Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association (CCPSA) is an athlete focused national organization administering and governing sport opportunities targeted to athletes with CP and related disabilities. CCPSA and its provincial partners cooperate as a proactive force to facilitate the development of equitable and fair sporting opportunities for our athletes.
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For more information
Dominique Tremblay
CCPSA
(613) 748-1430
(514) 972-6333
