Gold medals for Moreau, Sametz and Gautier at Para cycling World Cup
EMMEN, The Netherlands – Double Paralympic Games medallist Charles Moreau of Victoriaville, Que., Michael Sametz of Calgary and Shelley Gautier of Toronto all won gold medals this past weekend at the second stop on the Para cycling World Cup circuit.
Moreau took the men’s H3 (handcycle) 16 kilometre race in 23 minutes and 50.58 seconds for his second World Cup podium this season. He was 17 seconds ahead of runner-up Jean-François Deberg of Belgium. There were 32 entries.
‘’My preparations for the world championships are going super well,’’ Moreau told Sportcom. ‘’It shows my fitness level is very high. That’s important because the course at the worlds will have lots more climbs.’’
Sametz remained undefeated on the circuit in the men’s elite time trial this season as he finished in 32 minutes and 11.90 seconds, more than a minute ahead of closest pursuer Matthia Schindler of Germany. There were 17 entries.
Gautier was a double winner in the women’s T1 with victories in both the time trial and road race.
Also reaching the podium were Keely Shaw of Saskatoon with silver in the women’s elite C4 time trial and Nicole Clermont of St-Denis-de-Brompton, Que., in the women’s elite C5 time trial.
Canadians win silver at boccia World Open
POVOA de VARZIM, Portugal – Philippe Lord (Blainville, Que.) and Eric Bussière (Verchères, Que.) won the silver medal in BC3 pairs competition at the BISFed 2018 World Open boccia tournament.
Lord and Bussière earned three wins and a loss in round robin play for top spot in their pool. They defeated Spain 4-0 in the semifinals and lost to Greece 4-1 in the final.
“It was a long and thrilling day of pairs competition,’’ said Bussière, a 2016 Paralympian. ‘’I think we might have hit a record of most games played in one day; four games, one into extra ends and the two ends to be replayed against Russia. We stayed focused and calm and I think this is one of our best tournaments for us in pairs.”
Pierre Mainville on target at wheelchair fencing World Cup
WARSAW – Pierre Mainville of St-Colombe, Que., won seven of his nine matches in men’s epee to emerge with the bronze medal at a wheelchair fencing World Cup competition.
Mainville went 5-1 in round robin play to earn the sixth-seed in the knockout round. He received a bye to the round of 16 and defeated in succession competitors from Poland and Britain to reach the semis. He then lost to Grzegorz Pluta of Poland 15-12. Both semifinal losers get the bronze.
‘’I had a really good day,’’ said Mainville, a three-time Paralympian. ‘’I was aggressive and I was able to impose my game most of the time. I think I could have won that semifinal but still it’s a satisfying bronze medal for me.’’
Canadian women win bronze medal at Continental Clash wheelchair basketball tournament
SHEFFIELD, England – Arinn Young scored 22 points to lead the Canadian women to a 66-47 victory over Britain for the bronze medal at the Continental Clash wheelchair basketball tournament.
Rosalie Lalonde added 16 points while Cindy Ouellet chipped in 14 more. The Canadians were 1-3 in round robin play then lost to the Netherlands in the semifinals, setting up the showdown for the bronze against the British.
The men’s tournament was a straight round robin. Britain placed first at 5-0 followed by the Canadians, the Netherlands and Spain all at 3-2. Japan was 1-4 and Poland was winless. Canada won its three games in succession with victories over Poland, Spain and Japan.
Canada’s Patrick Anderson was named to the tournament all-star team, finishing with 31 points and 10 rebounds in the last game against Britain.
“I think we have an opportunity over the next month to play some games then go home and work on some things, make adjustments and continue to improve,” said Anderson.
The competition was also a tune-up tournament for the world championships this August in Hamburg.
