After two fierce days of competition, individual play at the Canadian Boccia Championship came to an end today in Moncton. In the final game of an emotionally and physically exhausting round robin, Josh Vander Vies of Sarnia, ON beat Jonathan Poulin of Laval, QC by a score of 8 – 1.
Because of an earlier loss to Ontario teammate Dale Stevenson of Ottawa, and total point spread, Vander Vies tied for first place with Jonathan Poulin of Laval, QC. Vander Vies, who had 6 less total points than Poulin, finished second overall after point differential was applied to settle the tie. “I played a mentally and physically solid tournament, and am happy with my performance,” said Vander Vies. “I made a key strategy error in my game against Dale [Stevenson] and paid the price. Against a player as good as Dale, even the smallest opening can be a game-changer.”
In that 2nd game of the 5 game round-robin, Vander Vies pushed one of his own balls into scoring position in the 3rd end against Stevenson. This momentarily gave Vander Vies the point, but the shift in ball positions gave Stevenson an opening to hit Vander Vies’ ball away, and score 4 points. The game finished 6 – 2 for Stevenson, who eventually finished in the bronze position
Stevenson said “It is always a pleasure to play Josh. He has been on the ball this tournament and he deserves the silver medal. It’s really exciting to have the BC4 classification filling in; the new players add so much to the sport and will strengthen the Canadian presence on the international scene.” Stevenson adds: “Josh and I make a great team and are looking forward to playing Pairs tomorrow.”
Tomorrow, as Team Ontario, Vander Vies and Stevenson will face off against Team Québec, and a team from New Brunswick and British Columbia, in BC4 pairs play. “Dale and I are ready to work together and make some beautiful shots. We have a great chemistry and are looking forward to showing the other teams how hard we have been working,” said Vander Vies with calm confidence.
The final standings after individual play are as follows:
BC4
1. Jonathan Poulin – Laval, QC
2. Josh Vander Vies – Sarnia, ON
3. Dale Stevenson – Ottawa, ON
4. Caroline Vietnicks – Vancouver, BC
5. Mario Babin – Montreal, QC
6. Sylvain Comeaux – Moncton, NBBC3
1. Monica Martino – Vancouver, BC
2. Bruno Garneau – Montreal, QC
3. Martin Dubois – Gatineau, QC
4. Corrine Bawdry – Fort St. John, BC
5. Alison Kabush – Vancouver, BC
6. Kevin Shaw – Ottawa, ON
7. Anam Ahmed – Brampton, ON
8. M Arseneau – Moncton, NB
9. Christy Smith-Worthylake – Ottawa, ON
10. Stephen Herel – Moncton, NBBC2
1. Adam Dukovich – London, ON
2. Francine Desrochers – Montreal, QC
3. François Bourbonnière – Montreal, QC
4. Sylvain Dupuis – Montreal, QC
5. Tammy McLeod – London, ON
6. Rick Magnusson – Vancouver, BC
7. Joey Morin – Moncton, NB
8. M. Arseneau – Moncton, NBBC1
1. Brock Richardson – Brampton, ON
2. Chris Halpen – Victoria, BC
3. Keven Smith-Worthylake – Ottawa, ON
4. Hanif Mawji – Vancouver, BC
5. Eric Lefevbre – Montreal, QC
6. Dave Van Hoek – London, ON
7. Angie Wong-Lamore – Sudbury, ON
8. Josée Lamothe – Trois Rivières, QC
For more information on the sport of boccia, see why Boccia is a Precision Sport.
