Montréal, April 28, 2023 – The wheelchair basketball and power soccer players hit the courts at the Défi sportif AlterGo! Friday was the last day of the school component. The individual finals of the Montréal 2023 World Boccia Cup took place today.
First Championship for Iulian Ciobanu
Montréaler Iulian Ciobanu’s fantastic week ended on a perfect note!
After defeating his teammate Marco Dispaltro in the BC4 quarter-finals on Thursday, he disposed of Britain’s Stephen Mcguire in the final four. In the big final, he faced Eliseu Santos of Brazil, whom he had beaten in the preliminary rounds. Because he was familiar with his opponent—a five-time Paralympic medallist—Ciobanu clinched the gold medal and the title with little difficulty, winning the game 8-1 in front of the hometown crowd.
On the women’s side, Ciobanu’s teammate Alison Levine was up against a tough opponent in the BC4 semi-finals. She lost the match to Yuen Cheung of Hong Kong in overtime. Cheung went on to defeat top-seeded player Leidy Chica Chica and win the tournament. Levine remained focused throughout her final match, where the bronze medal was up for grabs. She soundly defeated Anamaria Arambasic of Croatia 9-0 to secure the medal.
The team tournament begins on Saturday. Canada will compete in the BC4 doubles and BC1/2 team divisions.
Final day for the schools at the Défi sportif AlterGo
Schools from seven Quebec regions gathered for the final day of the Défi sportif AlterGo’s school component. Today’s competitions were in baseball, rhythmic gymnastics, track and field, soccer, and swimming.
An event of this magnitude requires the services of people with many types of expertise, including interpreters in Quebec Sign Language (LSQ). The interpreters signed the opening ceremonies and the medal ceremonies, so that as many athletes as possible could keep up with the events of the Défi sportif AlterGo. “I believe there should be more organizations like this one,” said Rébecca, an interpreter from SIVET, who signed several ceremonies this week. “They encourage inclusion, allowing deaf people, who are often overlooked, to participate as well.”
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Meanwhile, Théo Gallant, athletic ambassador for the 40th Défi sportif AlterGo, represented the Aigles du Sud-Ouest in his first wheelchair basketball game. Twenty-one teams are registered in the various divisions of the Défi sportif AlterGo tournament, which is being held at Cégep Édouard-Montpetit.
On the ice, the Canadians were unable to avenge yesterday’s loss to the Americans. They lost 5-0 today. The puck drops for the final match at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow.
Coming up tomorrow
The Claude-Robillard Sports Complex will host the Chantal Petitclerc Classic, the para-athletics events, a softball tournament organized in collaboration with the Association sportive des sourds du Québec, and the adapted swimming competitions. Now that the individual events are over, the team events of the Montréal 2023 World Boccia Cup are set to begin.
