Two strong showings from BC4 Pair at second day of 2015 Défi Sportif
Montréal, QC (May 1, 2015) – Day two of the BISFed Boccia Americas Team and Pair Competition at the 32nd edition of Défi Sportif Altergo was fraught with tension as Canada took on Chile, USA, Brazil and Argentina.
The BC3 pair of five time Paralympian Paul Gauthier (Vancouver, BC), Éric Bussière (Verchères, QC) and Kevin Shaw (Ottawa, ON), led the way with a solid win over the USA. “Everyone knew we had to win to play for gold tomorrow and we showed great teamwok and resilience achieve our goal” said Coach Shannon Syorak. After a disappointing first end where they gave up two points, Bussière led the pair to a three point end to regain the lead. The pair proceeded to make an aggressive move in the final end and it paid off with four points for a final score of 10-2. “We entered the match with confidence, knowing we had to be the best to take the win. For me, this is the most important win of my career as it will help secure qualification for Rio 2016” said Bussière. The pair looks to continue their momentum in their final match against Brazil tomorrow.
The BC1/BC2 Team, composed of four time Paralympian Tammy McLeod, two time Paralympian Adam Dukovich, bronze medal winner of the 2013 BISFed Americas Cup, Hanif Mawji, and Keven Smith-Worthylake, struggled against Brazil and Argentina. The team played a close game against Brazil, leading 5-0 heading into the 5th. Unfortunately, the Brazilians rallied, earning six points in the final two ends to take the win. “After a couple of disappointing losses today I still saw some great potential within the team to be competing at the world level of boccia. Our plan is to come back tomorrow with two wins and continue to build our confidence for future events” said Coach Ed Richardson (London, ON).
The BC4 pair, headed by world number one Marco Dispaltro (St-Jérôme, QC), alongside powerhouse Alison Levine (Montréal, QC) and newcomer Iulian Ciobanu (Montréal, QC), had two strong showings against Chile and the USA. The former was particularly meaningful as this was the same group who had prevailed over the Canadian BC4s at the Americas Cup in 2013. Of their performance over the past two days, BC4 Coach César Nicolai (Montréal, QC) asserts “with three wins and one loss, we have lined up a great opportunity to end up on the podium. This will be determined by tomorrow’s match against Brazil”.
Today’s Results
BC1/BC2
5-6 vs. Brazil
3-9 vs. Argentina
BC3
10-2 vs. USA
BC4
9-0 vs. Chile
7-0 vs. USA
Tomorrow’s schedule
10:00am BC1/BC2 Team Canada vs. USA
12:00pm BC4 Pair Canada vs. Brazil (webcast)
3:00pm BC3 Pair Canada vs. Brazil (webcast)
BC1/BC2 Team Canada vs. Brazil