Para sport notebook: Canada’s wheelchair curling team headed to Prague for Paralympics prep

TORONTO – Fresh from being nominated to the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games team, Canada’s wheelchair curling team will be boarding a jet for Prague this week to compete at the 19^th International Wheelchair Curling Tournament.

Mark Ideson, Gil Dash, Ina Forrest, Jon Thurston and Collinda Joseph were nominated Monday morning. It will be a fifth Games for Forrest, a fourth for Ideson, a second for Thurston and Joseph and a first for Dash.

The 19^th International Wheelchair Curling Tournament goes this Friday to Sunday in Prague. Other countries entered are two Slovakian teams, Czechia, Latvia, Sweden, Italy, Norway, Great Britain.

‘’It’s important for us to get international games in, there’s going to be a great field in Prague including many teams we’re going to see at the Games,’’ Ideson told CPC on Monday after the team’s nomination.   ‘’The goal for us is just to tighten up the screws on the systems we are using, make sure we are communicating effectively, and put down a solid tournament overall.’’

At the world championships this past March, Canada won the bronze medal. Slovakia was fourth, Sweden fifth, Norway sixth, Italy 10^th and Latvia 12^th. Canada has won a medal at every Paralympic Games since the sport was added in 2006 (three gold and two bronze)

Canada opens the Czech tournament with games against Latvia and Slovakia 1 on Friday, then face Sweden and Italy on Saturday. The quarterfinals are later Saturday and the semis and medal matches on Sunday.

‘’It’s a great opportunity,’’ added Ideson, Canada’s skip at the last two Games. ‘’To play these countries, it adds pressure and adds an importance factor that you can’t get in training.’’

Canadian developmental team wins gold at Rugbymania

Canada’s developmental team in wheelchair rugby went undefeated to win the Division 2 title on Saturday at Rugbymania, an annual tournament held in Prague.   The Canadians defeated Italy in the final 51-45.

The Canadians advanced to the final with three wins: 62-40 versus Luxembourg, 60-29 over Hungary and 68-31 over Great Britain.

Canada’s developmental team roster led by national team head coach Trevor Hirschfield was comprised of:

• Max Arsenault – Victoria, BC
• Jean-Philippe Côté-Nadon – Candiac, QC
• Maxime Drolet-Gauthier – Montréal, QC
• Jean-François Huneault – Saint-Eustache, QC
• Reese Ketler – Winnipeg, MB
• Mélanie Labelle – St-Hubert, QC
• Austin MacLellan – Fredericton, NB
• Will McCreight – Kamloops, BC
• Anthony Letourneau – Boisbriand, Quebec
• Kurt Timmons – Calgary, AB

Canada Places Fourth in BC4 Pairs at Coimbra World Boccia Cup

Iulian Ciobanu and Alison Levine of Montreal were fourth Sunday in BC4 Pairs at the Coimbra 2025 World Boccia Cup in Portugal.  The tournament closed a demanding stretch of three international events.

The Canadians went 2-0 in the preliminary round and advanced them to the semifinals and fell 4–3 to Great Britain to move to the bronze medal match.

In the third-place match, Ciobanu and Levine faced Hungary for the second time. They opened with a three-point end but Hungary battled back to force an extra end and prevailed 4-3, leaving Canada just off the podium.

“We’re closing the chapter on a good season and an okay competition here,” Levine said, noting fatigue after three back-to-back events. “Our objective was to qualify for the World Championships, and we did that. We’ve also learned some valuable energy management for future seasons.”

The World Cup marks the end of Canada’s international calendar, with some athletes set to compete at the 2025 Canadian Boccia Championships this Thursday to Sunday at the RA Centre in Ottawa.

Venos and Courchesne double champions at 2025 Birmingham National Wheelchair Tennis Championships

At the UBC Tennis Centre in Vancouver, Thomas Venos of Anmore, B.C., and Shawn Courchesne of Brampton, Ont., won singles and doubles crowns at the 2025 Birmingham National Wheelchair Tennis Championships.

In men’s singles, Venos earned his sixth consecutive national title with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Barry Henderson of Mission, B.C.  in the final. It was a dominant performance by Venos, who won his five matches in straight sets and lost only five games overall.

The round robin featured 14 players split into four groups, with the top two in each group advancing to the quarterfinals.

Venos and Henderson joined forces in men’s doubles for a third straight Canadian title.  They defeated John Chen and Se Youn Moon in the final 6-1, 6-0.

Courchesne was equally dominant in the open quads division on route to defeating two-time defending champion Shawn McIntyre in the final 6-0, 6-0.  Courchesne and Hisham Mohammad took the quads doubles crown to successfully defend their title.

In women’s singles, Anne-Marie Dolinar of Deep River, Ont., returned to the winner’s circle posting two victories in the event.