It was a ‘super silver Saturday’ this weekend for Carl Marquis’ Team Québec at the Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championships in Boucherville. Also on the ice, but this time at the Howie-Morenz Arena, both of Montreal’s two parahockey teams qualified for the gold medal match.
Team Québec and Carl Marquis: Super in Silver!
After a convincing semi-final win with a score of 7-2 over Dennis Thiessen’s Team Newfoundland and Labrador, Team Québec faced Team Northern Ontario in the grand final.
The final was anything but a foregone conclusion for Marquis’ team, given that Douglas Dean’s Team Northern Ontario was the only squad to have beaten Marquis’ in the qualifying rounds. After taking the lead in the first end, Carl Marquis and his team-mates finally succumbed in the last end with a score of 8-5, thus collecting the silver medal this time.
“This is the third time in three years that I’ve been in the final,” noted Douglas Dean, who won silver in 2024 with Team Newfoundland and Labrador, and in 2023 with Team Northern Ontario. “It feels great to finally get the gold – I’m ecstatic! It means so much to us and for sure we’ll be celebrating to finally bring home the gold.”
Dean was also named his team’s Most Valuable Player: “There are a lot of great athletes here, a lot of other people could have won this award, so I’m really honoured,” adds the 60-year-old Thunder Bay resident.
Carl Marquis was pleased with his team’s performance, which took them to the podium for the first time since 2017. “We haven’t been on the podium for a while, and we came back strong today. Of course, we would have liked to have won gold, but Team Northern Ontario was stronger,” explained the captain.
“We played very well all week, but today we perhaps lacked some finesse. Our opponents earned their win. Our goal was to get closer to the podium, and we knew we had a good chance of finishing in the top-4, so to finish second, we’re very happy,” he concluded.
Athletes at Cégep Édouard-Montpetit show their skills
In Longueuil, Powerchair Soccer athletes took to the field Saturday for their international tournament. Teams from Canada and the United States faced off against each other in this exciting event.
Défi sportif AlterGo athlete ambassador Caroline Séguin was on the field with Team Canada 1, which advanced to the semi-finals.
In Wheelchair Basketball, more than 100 athletes of all levels took to the courts to continue their tournament. Today, qualifying matches were completed in the Mini, A, and AA divisions. Sunday, at 8:30 a.m., elimination rounds will take place.
Défi sportif AlterGo ambassador athlete Jonathan Vermette is to watch out for in the AA division with his CIVA team.
Junior Parahockey tournament continues at Howie-Morenz Arena
On-ice action continued today at the Junior Parahockey tournament at Howie-Morenz Arena. The two Montréal teams won each of their two games against the Ontario teams, and will face off for gold on Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
Our ambassador athlete Félix Gemme scored a goal for his team, Montréal 2.
Credit photo : Curling Canada
