(Ottawa, October, 8 2006) Canadian athletes completed the round robin portion of the individual competition at the 2006 Boccia World Championships, being held today in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Seven of the 10 athletes will now advance to the medal round.
"I’m really happy with our round robin play as all the athletes playing well while our opponent brought their A game”, said National Team Head Coach, Mario Delisle. “Each athlete gave their best and took one game at a time being focused. All the athletes at this competition are good.”
In the BC3 category, Paralympic gold medalist, Paul Gauthier of Vancouver, BC, Alison Kabush of Surrey, BC and Monica Martino of Vancouver, BC all advance to the next part of the competition. In the B-C2 category, national team veteran Tammy McLeod of London, ON, blanked Takayuki Hirose of Japan, 8-0. Fellow Canadian Adam Dukovich of London, ON lost his last games 4-2 against Hubert Steirer of Austria, but still sneaked in the medal round. Rookie team member Nathan Moss of Victoria, BC was eliminated.
In the BC4 category, Jonathan Poulin of Montreal advanced to the round of sixteen even if he didn’t play today. Partner, Josh Vander Vies of Sarnia, ON, was not as lucky losing his game 5-1 against Jose Vicente Gomez of Spain. He finished third in a very difficult pool. In the BC1 category Hanif Mawji of Burnaby, BC won a do or die game against Roger Anadalen of Norway 6-2, to live another day. David Van Hoek of London, ON was also eliminated.
Delisle is now hoping for good games tomorrow: “I think we will have a good day tomorrow”, mentioned Delisle. “Everybody is in good shape and the team spirit is excellent. Everybody is there for their partner and everything is going well“.
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
