Levine Strikes Silver for Canada at the Boccia World Open in Poznan, Poland

Poznan, Poland (June 21, 2015) – Alison Levine (Montreal, QC) wins her first silver medal at an international individual competition off Canadian soil. Playing four games on the final day, Levine powered through three strong opponents – Samuel Andrejcik (SLO), Lazlo Hegesus (HUN), and 2012 Paralympic gold medallist Direcu Pinto (BRA) – before facing Domingos Vieira from Portugal in the gold medal match, taking silver with a final score of 2-7. En route to the gold medal game, Vieira was victorious against the two other Canadian players in the field, Caroline Vietnieks (Burnaby, BC) and Marco Dispaltro (St Jérôme, QC).

Dispaltro provided fierce competition for the Portuguese player, nearly taking their game after scoring four points in the third end to bring the score to 4-2. Unfortunately, Vieira responded by taking three points in the final end for a 5-4 win. Dispaltro took fifth place while Vietnieks took 13th.

Reflecting on her individual play in the gold medal round, Levine, a member of CIBC’s Team NEXT stated, “I’m very proud of myself, winning my first international individual medal! Two silver medals in my pocket. Not only did this competition help me improve my ranking for Rio 2016 qualifications, but more importantly – this competition gave me confidence. I am so proud.”

BC4 coach Cesar Nicolai said, “A great performance by the BC4 pairs to win a silver medal, particularly in a competition with players of this scale. Alison on the podium in her first international individual competition is another accomplishment as well as Marco’s fifth place and Caroline’s thirteenth. Knowing all three of them lost to the same player, Domingos Vieira of Portugal, who finished first in both pairs and individual points to the quality and consistency of his play. These two title are well deserved on his part.”