Perseverance pays off in gold for Joshua Gautier at 30th Canadian Boccia Championships

OTTAWA – It wasn’t hard to find Joshua Gautier at the 30th Canadian Boccia Championships on Saturday.

The Niagara Falls, Ont., resident was the one illuminating the RA Centre with a beaming smile after he earned his first career national title and medal in a victory over Marylou Martineau of Quebec City in the BC3 class.

The 22-year-old Gautier, competing at his fifth Canadian championships, took the match 4-3 in an extra end.

‘’It was exhausting,’’ said Gautier. ‘’I worked hard and I’m glad it paid off. I got down early but I didn’t get discouraged. I got my game in order in the third end and was able to pull it out.’’

Gautier’s cousin is three-time Paralympian Shelley Gautier. The Para cyclist won a bronze at the 2016 Rio Games and multiple world titles.

‘’Shelley set a great example for me,’’ said Joshua Gautier. ‘’She showed a lot of perseverance and went through a lot to get to the top.

‘’For me sometimes it felt like it took forever to get to this point but it can happen if you work hard.’’

The bronze medal match also needed an extra end as defending champion Alexandre Lemaire of Kingsey Falls, Que., beat Carter Plumb of Brampton, Ont. 5-4.

The BC2 final was equally exciting as two-time Paralympian Danik Allard of Bois-des-Filion, Que., collected his sixth career title defeating Olivier Roy of Quebec City 4-3.

‘’I was expecting a close match,’’ said Allard, 23. ‘’In the extra end I made the shots I needed to save my day. I worked a lot on my centre game in training and I knew I would have the advantage if I kept that strategy.’’

Jim Davis of Thorold, Ont., defeated Krystin Collins of St John’s N.L. 5-0 for the bronze.

In BC1, two-time Paralympian Lance Cryderman of Sudbury, Ont., completed an undefeated run for the gold with a 10-3 win over Hanif Mawji of Burnaby, B.C. in a rematch of last year’s final.

‘’I was ready to come back to get on the court after the Games,’’ said Cryderman, whose Paralympic Games appearances were 24 years apart (2000 and 2024). ‘’It’s been a few weeks now and this is what I love to do. This is my happy place when I’m on the court and throwing those balls.’’

30 for 30 for Hanif Mawji

The 56-year-old Mawji, a 2008 Paralympian, has competed at all 30 Canadian boccia championships.

‘’Hanif’s love for the game is so clear,’’ said Cryderman. ‘’Whenever he makes a great shot you can hear him and he’s always jumping for joy when things are going well. He’s so expressive.’’

Cryderman took a 16-year hiatus from the sport in 2001 to complete a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from Laurentian University, where he also works as an accessibility advisor.

Liza Puri of London, Ont., won bronze with an 8-0 win over Chris Halpen of Victoria.

Daniel Hutchison of Victoria won the Open category and Quebec’s Marc-Antoine Goupil placed first in BC5.

Pairs and team preliminary round action got under later Saturday and will conclude on Sunday.