Canadian team demonstrates strong effort despite tough losses at Montreal World Cup
Fatima Abderrahmane at the Montreal World Cup
Photo Credit: Patrick Beauchemin, Défi Sportif AlterGo
MONTREAL, QC (May 1, 2026) – The individual competition has concluded at the Montreal 2026 World Boccia Cup, offering a mix of hard-fought victories, tough losses, and valuable experience for the Canadian team.
In the BC1 division, Lance Cryderman delivered two commanding wins (7–0, 6–0) but narrowly missed a playoff berth after dropping his remaining matches. Danik Allard (BC2) faced a challenging round-robin field, highlighted by an impressive victory over the 10th-ranked athlete in his division.
Marking her first event as a national team member, Fatima Abderrahmane (BC3) showed strong potential, capturing key ends against two top 20 opponents despite not advancing. In BC4, Alison Levine, currently ranked 11th in the world, secured two decisive wins by margins of five points or more, but also fell just short of progressing to the playoffs.
Three Canadians advanced to the knockout stage. Iulian Ciobanu (BC4) topped his pool with two wins, including a victory over world No. 5 Boris Nicolai of Germany. He then advanced to the semi-finals, where he faced Czech athlete Radek Prochazka, ultimately falling 7–2. Marco Dispaltro also reached the semi-finals after finishing second in his pool, taking on world No. 8 Eliseu dos Santos. In BC3, Alexandre Lemaire delivered two thrilling matches that both went to extra ends, winning one and losing the other, all while keeping spectators on edge. He was then defeated in the semi-finals by Diogo Castro of Portugal.
High Performance Director, Mario Delisle, says. “Despite not progressing to semi-finals, we have seen great performances from Canadian athletes and for some significant progress in such a big world event. The best athletes in the world showed up in Montreal, the level of play was amazing, and the Canadian athletes battled strongly in every game, building confidence for the next events.”
Attention now turns to the teams and pairs competition. Ciobanu and Levine will join forces in the BC4 pairs event, while Lemaire and Abderrahmane will compete together in BC3 pairs.
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About Boccia Canada
Boccia Canada is the boccia delivery arm of the Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association (CCPSA), the National Sport Organization for the Paralympic sport of boccia. Boccia Canada is focused on providing athletes and individuals of all ages and skill with the chance to play a unique Paralympic sport. We lead, develop and grow boccia from grassroots to producing World Champions, and we collaborate with partners to increase participation of Canadians with physical disabilities in sport.
About boccia
Boccia is a Paralympic sport of precision and strategy similar to lawn bowling or curling, played by athletes with Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy and related disabilities. It is one of only two Paralympic sports that do not have an Olympic counterpart. Athletes compete in one of six sport classes based on their level and type of disability: BC1, BC2, BC3 BC4, BC5, and Open.
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