Rookie Shows Great Potential as Canadians Come Away With No Medals Thus Far at the Montréal World Boccia Cup
Ottawa, ON (May 2, 2024) – Alison Levine (Montréal, QC), Danik Allard (Bois-des-Filion, QC), Iulian Ciobanu (Montréal, QC), and Lance Cryderman (Sudbury, ON) played tough matches in the playoffs of the Montréal World Boccia Cup, with each not advancing to the medal rounds. Meanwhile, Alexandre Lemaire’s (Kingsey Falls, QC) first international competition started with an impressive narrow 4-3 loss to the number four world ranked BC3 male player and six-time Paralympic medalist.
“After that match, I feel very good to have been able to play at that level at this point in my BC3 career,” noted Lemaire, who is also the second youngest athlete on the Canadian National Boccia Team at twenty-two years old. Lemaire only just got reclassified from BC4 into BC3 in 2022, officially making it onto the Team in December 2023 for the first time ever.
Allard, Ciobanu, Cryderman, and Levine unfortunately lost in the playoff rounds against some elite performances from other countries. The Boccia Canada team left with no medals in the first leg of the competition which wraps up tomorrow morning with the individual finals and medals ceremony.
Cryderman played Eduardo Sanchez from Mexico who is ranked 8thin the world. He kept himself in the match in the first end, with some very accurate shots in pockets that were left unclaimed. Sanchez only managed to score one point in the first, however the Mexican athlete opened the match in the second with a total of five points, and a final score of 9-2.
Levine lost to Yuen Cheung of Hong Kong, 5-2 in playoffs who is the second seed at this event. Levine is the first.
Allard lost 5-1 versus Mario Sayes from El Salvador.
Ciobanu was up against second world ranked Yuk Wing Leung from Hong Kong. Despite the formidable opponent, Ciobanu has the ability to beat him. Leung came out victorious 5-3 in a critical fourth end with a long throw of the jack ball of approximately 9 meters, and an unbelievably accurate first ball against the jack.
The other athletes competing for Canada did not move past their pool at the competition.
“It seemed to be a difficult competition for Canada. We had some good performances and some not so good performances,” noted Cesar Nicolai, Head Coach, Boccia Canada. “At this level we have to be excellent strategically, but we also need to execute our skills at key moments in the matches where we, ultimately, missed.”
Tomorrow afternoon Team and Pairs begin where current number one BC4 Pair in the world play for a medal along with the BC1/2 Team and BC3 Pair for Canada.
BC4 Pair Levine and Ciobanu will be defending their 2023 title in Montreal. They have already qualified for the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Find schedule and results here for the Team and Pairs tournament that starts tomorrow through Sunday. Watch the webcast live coverage on CBC YouTube, the CBC Gem App, or the Défi sportif AlterGo stream.
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.
Media Contact
Holly Janna
Communications Lead and National Team Coordinator, Boccia Canada
Email: [email protected]
Phone Number: 613-748-1430 x3 | Cell: 514-944-5193