Three medals for Canada at boccia World Challenger event

SANTIAGO – Canadian Paralympians Lance Cryderman and Danik Allard earned silver and bronze in individual play then combined forces with Liza Puri for third spot in the team event at the Santiago World Boccia Challenger.

In men’s BC1, Cryderman, from Val Caron, Ont., went 3-0 in the preliminary round, then edged German Calderon of Chile 3-2 in the semifinal. His only loss was 5-3 to Jose Carlos Oliveira of Brazil in the championship match.

In men’s BC2, Allard, also a two-time Paralympian from Bois-des-Filion, Que, downed Luis Cristaldo of Argentina 6-4 in the bronze medal game. It was sweet revenge for Allard who lost to the Argentinean in the preliminaries.

The BC1-2 team event was a straight round robin with Canada ranking third at 1-2 behind Brazil in first and Argentina. Puri, from London, Ont., was making her international debut.

“Lance and Danik defended their ranking here with the pool of athletes in Santiago,’’ said Canada’s head coach Cesar Nicolai. ‘’ In the team category, we witnessed Liza’s debut, and she rose to the challenge with a bronze. A promising season opener.”

Competition continues Friday with the BC3 and BC4 individual and pair events. Canadian entries are Alexandre Lemaire (Kingsey Falls, QC) in the BC3 men while Paralympians Alison Levine (Montreal) and Iulian Ciobau (Montreal) compete in BC4.

All results and schedule updates are here. Find the webcast here.

With files from Boccia Canada