(Ottawa, October, 13 2006) The Canadian BC3 team qualified for the quarter finals. The BC1/BC2 team lost against Spain and the BC4 team was eliminated in the quarter finals on the second day of team competition at the 2006 Boccia World Championships, being held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The BC3 Canadian pair (two players are on the court at the same time) qualified for the Quarter Finals with a hard fought 4-3 victory in the extra end against Ireland. With this win, Paul Gauthier, Alison Kabush and Monica Martino all from the greater Vancouver area, finished second in their pool and will play Portugal in the next round. “The court texture is not really appropriate for the BC3 players”, said National Team Head Coach, Mario Delisle. “The Canadians players have had difficulty adapting to it but we were still able to reach the quarter finals. The BC3 athletes will have to play better to beat Portugal tomorrow but we have confidence in them, and that this will be the case”.
The Canadian BC1/BC2 team is comprised of Tammy McLoed, Adam Dukovich and David Van Hoek, of London, ON, Hanif Mawji of Burnaby, BC and Nathan Moss of Victoria, BC. In their last round robin game, Canada lost 13-5 against Spain. They finished second in their pool and could not get into the top eight on point differential.
Jonathan Poulin of Montreal, QC and Josh Vander Vies of London, ON were eliminated in the quarter finals of the BC4 Category. They were facing Hungary and came up short losing 7-4. Earlier today they beat South Africa, 8-0 and lost 6-1 against Great Britain which stopped them from finishing second in their pool.
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
