Santiago 2023 Day 7 Preview: Canada to play for gold in women’s wheelchair basketball and goalball, quad wheelchair tennis

SANTIAGO – As the Santiago 2023 Parapan Am Games heads into its final weekend, Canada is set for at least three medals on Friday with the country’s women’s teams in the wheelchair basketball and goalball gold medal games, and Rob Shaw playing for a wheelchair tennis title.  

Play continues in boccia and Para badminton, while medals are on the table for Canada in Para athletics, Para swimming, and Para track cycling.

Below is what’s on the schedule for Canada on Day 7, Friday November 24:

Wheelchair Basketball
It is Canada versus USA for women’s wheelchair basketball gold at 7 p.m. local / 5 p.m. ET, a battle between two undefeated teams here in Santiago. Canada is the defending Parapan Am champion. The winner will punch their ticket for next summer’s Paralympic Games, avoiding the need to play a last-chance qualifier.

The Canadian men will be looking to join their counterparts in a gold medal game, taking on Colombia in the semifinals at 10:30 a.m. local / 8:30 a.m. ET. 

Wheelchair Tennis
Rob Shaw, Canada’s co-Opening Ceremony flag bearer, will take on Francisco Cayulef of Chile in the quad singles final at 11 a.m. local in what is sure to be an exciting match in front of the Chilean home crowd. World No. 9 Shaw, the defending Parapan Am champion, currently holds a 3-0 record on the ITF circuit over No. 11 Cayulef. Earlier this week, the Chilean ousted Canadian Mitch McIntyre in the quarterfinals.

Goalball
Canada is going for gold in the women’s goalball tournament, taking on USA in the final at 4:30 p.m. local / 2:30 p.m. ET. The winner will not only take home the top hardware, but also earn a coveted ticket to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. This is the only opportunity for a team from the Americas to qualify for Paris. Bronze medallists four years ago, the women have already earned their best ever result at a Parapan Am Games.

In the men’s event, Canada is playing for bronze, facing off against Argentina at 3:15 p.m. A win would match its performance from the last two Parapan Am Games.   

Para Athletics
Four Canadians are in action across track and field, highlighted by two-time Paralympian Renee Foessel in discus. Foessel, along with Laura Calovini, will compete in the women’s F38 discus starting at 4:12 p.m. local / 2:12 p.m. ET. Foessel, the world record and Parapan Am record holder in this event, won the silver medal at this summer’s 2023 world championships.

First up for the team on the day is Jesse Zesseu, already a silver medallist in discus here in Santiago, who now turns his attention to the men’s T37/38 long jump. Competition starts at 3:03 p.m. Isaiah Christophe will also race in the men’s T54 100m heats at 5:40 p.m. with an aim of reaching the final at 7:46 p.m.

Para Swimming
Para swimming competition wraps up on Friday, with Canada looking to add to its nine medals in the pool. Five Canadians are racing in direct finals, with three up in the morning: Fernando Lu in the men’s 100m backstroke S10 at 9:15 a.m., and Caleb Arndt and Hunter Helberg in the men’s 200m individual medley SM13 at 9:52 a.m.

Connor Bissett and Jesse Canney will race in the men’s 100m butterfly final S14 at 7:02 p.m.

Seven athletes will be hoping to join them in finals with heats running through morning. They include Ruby Stevens and Myriam Soliman in the women’s 100m freestyle S7, Alisson Gobeil and Jordan Tucker in the women’s 100m freestyle S5, Felix Cowan in the men’s 50m freestyle S9, and Justine Morrier and Emma Van Dyck in the women’s 100m butterfly S14.

Canada will also race in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay to close out the evening at 7:07 p.m.   

Para Cycling – Track
Canada’s four track cycling athletes return to the velodrome Friday, this time for the 3000m individual pursuit. First up will be Mel Pemble in the women’s C1-3 qualifying starting at 2 p.m. local. Pemble captured a silver medal in the time trial on Thursday.

Alexandre Hayward (a gold and bronze medallist in Santiago) and Mike Sametz (bronze medallist) will then race in the men’s C1-3 3000m event at 2:56 p.m. followed by Keely Shaw in the women’s C4-5 category at 4:20 p.m.

The top two racers in qualifying will race for gold in the final, with the third and fourth-best racers dueling for bronze. Medal rounds start at 6:39 p.m. local.

Boccia
The pairs and team competition continues in boccia, with preliminary play wrapping up on Friday.  Canada’s BC1-2 team of Lance Cryderman, Kristyn Collins, and Danik Allard will play both of its group matches, opening against Colombia at 9:30 a.m. local / 7:30 a.m. ET before also playing Brazil later in the afternoon.

Alison Levine and Iulian Ciobanu, gold and bronze medallists in the individual tournament, take a 1-0 record into its final round-robin game against Brazil at 3 p.m. in BC4 pairs. Rounding out Canada’s schedule for the day is Joelle Guerette and Ryan Rondeau in BC3 pairs, versus Brazil at 11:50 a.m. and Guatemala at 4:50 p.m. The duo lost its first match on Thursday.

Para Badminton
Three Canadians are already set for the knockout stages in Para badminton action, while many athletes also are still wrapping up the group stage.

Tokyo 2020 Paralympian Olivia Meier – the first Canadian to compete in the sport at the Paralympic Games – will face off against Brazilian Ana Carolina Reis in the women’s SL4 semifinals.

In men’s action, Wyatt Lightfoot is set for the SH6 quarterfinals versus Peru’s Hector Salva Tunque, while Mikhail Bilenky is in the men’s WH1 quarterfinals against another Peruvian, Ronald Miranda Montero.

All three matches will take place in the afternoon following the conclusion of earlier play.

Those with contests still to be played in the group stage are Colleen Cloetta in women’s singles SH6, Bernard Lapointe in men’s singles WH2, as well as Coletta and Justin Kendrick in mixed doubles SH6, and Pascale Lapointe and Meier in mixed doubles SL3-SU5.

Please note schedules are subject to change. The complete schedule for November 24 can be found on the Santiago 2023 Parapan Am website HERE.

HOW TO WATCH

The free CBC Gem streaming service, cbcsports.ca, and the CBC Sports App for iOS and Android devices will be offering streaming feeds throughout the Games. Additionally, there will be broadcast on CBC TV as part of CBC Sports Presents weekend programming. For full details on broadcast and streaming schedules, please visit cbcsports.ca.The official broadcaster of Santiago 2023, the Pan Am Sports Channel, will also be available for free in Canada throughout the event, offering additional live feeds of sports coverage. Please note not all sports may be available each day.