Paralympic recap: Only world No. 1 can beat Canada’s Robert Shaw

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Robert Shaw of North Bay, Ont., continued his rise on the international wheelchair tennis scene this past weekend as it took world No. 1 David Wagner of the U.S. to deny him the men’s quad singles title at the Birmingham Canadian Classic.

Wagner captured his fifth International Tennis Federation (ITF) title this season defeating Shaw 6-2, 6-4 at what is the biggest wheelchair tennis event held in Canada each year. 
Seeded fourth, Shaw won his three first matches in straight sets and improved his season record to 24 wins and 12 losses on the circuit. He is ranked 10th in the world and has reached five finals in 2018.

“This year’s the first year I’ve started working with a sports psychologist and that’s really changed the way I think and the way I act on court,’’ Shaw told ITFTennis.com. ‘’So I’m going into matches a lot more confident, a lot more relaxed.” 

Two seventh-place finishes for Canada at Para canoe worlds

MONTEMOR-O-VELHO, Portugal – Erica Scarff of Mississauga, Ont., and Mathieu St-Pierre of Shawinigan, Que., each notched seventh-place finishes this past week at the Para canoe world championships.

St-Pierre, who lost the use of his legs in a logging accident in February 2015, clocked 56.606 seconds in the men’s VL2 race in his world championship debut. Igor Tofalini led Brazil to a 1-2 finish in 54.316.

‘’I’ve been blocked at 57 seconds all season so this was a big a success for me,’’ St-Pierre told Sportcom. ‘’Being only two seconds from top spot, anything is possible. It’s basically two or three strokes and some technical adjustments.’’

Scarff, a 2016 Paralympic team member, finished in 57.786 and was just over a second from a top-five finish. Helene Ripa of Sweden won the gold in 53.671.

The season is not over for the Para paddlers. Still on the schedule are the Canadian Championships this week in Sherbrooke, Que., starting Wednesday and the Pan Am Championships September 13-16 in Dartmouth, N.S.