VANCOUVER – Adam Dukovich of Mississauga, Ont., registered the biggest win of his career Monday as he upset the number-one player in the world to advance to the quarterfinals at the boccia World Cup being held at B.C., Place.
Paul Gauthier of Vancouver and Alison Kabush of Surrey, B.C., also advanced to the final eight.
Boccia is a sport similar to lawn bowls and played by athletes with cerebral palsy. This year’s World Cup is also a qualifying tournament for the 2008 Paralympic Games.
‘’I’m surprised and excited,’’ said Dukovich after his 4-2 victory over world number-one Pedro Silva of Portugal in the BC 2 category in the round of 16. ‘’I was feeling very nervous about playing against him. But I played my game.’’
In the same category, Tammy McLeod of London, Ont., was eliminated losing her round of 16 match to Pablo Alexandro Cortez of Argentina 6-0.
‘’I’m proud of the way I played in this tournament,’’ said McLeod. ‘’It was tough. I went into to my match against Cortez feeling my game was on. I know that I played well. But he just made some great shots.’’
In the BC 3 category, Kabush overcame a 3-0 deficit to defeat Johnny Cronin of Ireland. Kabush scored three in the third round to tie the match and scored the winner in the fourth and final round.
‘’It was a great comeback,’’ said Kabush. ‘’It was exciting, Johnny is a very tough player. I was able to evaluate his game early in the match and started to make the right decisions in the final two rounds. I was nervous because he is ranked higher than me.’’
Gauthier also fell behind in his match against Austin Hanson of the U.S., before rallying for a 4-1 victory.
‘’When I fall behind like that I think it makes me even more focused,’’ said Gauthier, the reigning Paralympic Games champion. ‘’It turned up on the heat on me and helped me bring on my best game. There was a lot of action in that second round and being able to tie the game was a big turning point for me.’’
All four Canadians in action won their round of 32 matches earlier Monday.
Competition continues Tuesday.
