BC3s dominate at first day of 2015 Défi Sportif
Montréal, QC (April 30, 2015) – Today, ten members of the National Team Training Squad squared off against rivals from across the Americas at the 2015 BISFed Americas Team and Pairs Championships, a qualifying event for the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games.
The first day of competition was coloured by strong play, both from Canada and international opponents. The BC4 Pair, made up of world number one ranked Marco Dispaltro (St-Jérôme, QC), member of CIBC Team Next Alison Levine (Montréal, QC) and, making his international debut, Iulian Ciobanu (Montréal, QC) struggled in their first match conceding a loss to Colombia with a score of 5-1. Under the guidance of assistant coach César Nicolai (Montréal, QC), the three finished the day with a solid 8-0 win over Argentina. Ciobanu’s performance garnered particular attention, as he executed a perfect shot on his first international throw, eliciting cheers from the home crowd. “I’m really motivated for the game tomorrow”, he said, “I hope I have another chance to show my team I’m ready for this level of competition.”
Of the day, Nicolai said, “Competition began today with the BC4s facing Colombia, who brought a strong showing both in terms of their strategy and execution. The pair came back from this challenge with a solid win over Argentina.”
The BC3 Pair, composed of Éric Bussière (Verchères, QC), Paul Gauthier (Vancouver, BC) and Kevin Shaw (Ottawa, ON), dominated, finishing the day with a perfect record. Notable mention goes to Bussière who capitalized on a communication violation against Colombia during their first match, executing a stellar shot to score one and give Canada the 6-3 win. The pair carried this confidence and strategy into their next game against Argentina for a win of 8-0. BC3 coach, Shannon Sydorak, said “It feels fantastic to close the first day of competition at 2-0. Typically we start slow, but today we were able to turn good luck to our advantage and carry that into our second game.”
Competition continues tomorrow. Tomorrow’s full schedule and today’s results are included below.
Results
BC1/2 Team
4-6 vs ARG
16-0 vs USA
BC3 Pairs
6-3 vs COL
8-0 Vs ARG
BC4 Pairs
1-5 vs COL
8-0 vs ARG
May 1, 2014 Schedule
9:00am BC4 Pairs Canada vs. Chile
11:00am BC1/BC2 Team Canada vs. Brazil
1:00pm BC4 Pairs Canada vs. USA
3:00pm BC1/BC2 Team Canada vs. Argentina
5:00pm BC3 Pairs Canada vs. USA