(Ottawa, October, 9 2006) Hanif Mawji, of Burnaby, BC will be the lone Canadian competing for a medal in the BC1 category tomorrow during the last day of individual competition at the 2006 Boccia World Championships, being held today in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“I am particularly satisfied with the performance and efforts of Hanif Mawji who will be the only Canadian representative in the semi-finals of the World Championships”, said National Team Head Coach, Mario Delisle. “In his case, all hope is still present and everyone on the team will be behind him tomorrow”.
Mawji had two games today and was successful in both occasions. In the round 16th, he won 3-1 against Eduardo Ventura Flores of Mexico. Three hours later he faced TJ Hawker in the all North American showdown with the Canadian coming out on top. Tomorrow Mawji will meet Francisco Javier Beltran of Spain in the Semi-finals.
In the BC4 category, Jonathan Poulin of Montreal played one of the best games of his young career but faced 2004 Paralympic Games gold medalist, Wing Yuk Leung. Poulin lost 6-4 but gave it all he had. “I had some very good shots, but it is crazy how good this guy was”, said Poulin. “I was also happy with my performance against the Spaniard in the round-robin. For a first participation at the World Championships, I’m proud of myself and a lot of people have come and tell me that I improved a lot since I started playing a year and a half ago.”
In other games today, Paralympic gold medalist, Paul Gauthier of Vancouver, BC, Alison Kabush of Surrey, BC and Monica Martino of Vancouver, BC were all eliminated in the 16th round, in the BC3 Category. Tammy McLeod and Adam Dukovich, of London, ON, were eliminated in the 16th and 32nd round respectively, in the BC2 category.
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
