(Ottawa, October, 10 2006) Hanif Mawji of Burnaby, BC, the lone Canadian still alive in the individual competition had to settle for fourth place in the BC1 category at the 2006 Boccia World Championships, being held today in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In the semi finals Mawji faced Francisco Javier Beltran of Portugal. It was a hard fought match but the Portuguese came out on top with a 6-2 win. After a 30 minute break, Mawji was back on the court and met Heeseong Cho of South Korea. Again Mawji put forth a noble effort, but it was not enough to win the bronze medal, losing 6-3. “I tried but I had a bit of difficulty with my first shot today”, said Mawji. “I’m disappointed but I will be back and I will be better at the 2007 World Cup in Vancouver.”
National Team Head Coach, Mario Delisle is pleased with the performance of his athletes: “I’m happy with our performance during the individual competition” said Delisle. “All the Canadians athletes were competitive even if they were lacking experience at that level of competition. 8 athletes qualified in the top half of the competition which is encouraging for the 2007 World Cup in Vancouver”.
After a day off, the pair and team competition will start on Thursday. The Finals will be played on Sunday.
Boccia is a Paralympic sport open to athletes with cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, stroke or similar non-progressive conditions. All competitors compete in wheelchairs and some are permitted to use assistive devices (usually a ramp or chute to aid in throwing the ball). Only athletes with a severe disability are eligible to compete in boccia.
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
(819) 360-6333
Dominique@ccpsa.ca
