Canadian Roundup: Summer winds down with teams on podiums
A year after Rio 2016, Canada’s summer athletes in team sports are competing and winning medals in regional championships, while a teen tennis star has thrust himself on to the international stage.
Here is a look at some of the top weekend results:
Basketball
Related: Canada wins second straight FIBA title
Nirra Fields of Canada in action at FIBA Women’s AmeriCup final on August 13, 2017 (Photo: FIBA).
Canada Basketball women won the renamed FIBA AmeriCup tournament (formerly FIBA Americas Championship) in Buenos Aires, beating host nation Argentina 67-65 in the final. Canada successfully defended its crown in the biennial regional competition, with Olympian Nirra Fields named tournament’s most valuable player.
Field Hockey
Related: Canadian men bring home field hockey silver
Field Hockey Canada in action at the 2017 Pan American Cup gold medal final against Argentina in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on Saturday, August 13 (Photo: Yan Huckendubler/PAHF via Field Hockey Canada).
Field Hockey Canada men won their third consecutive silver medal at the quadrennial Pan American Cup held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Canada lost to world number one, and Rio 2016 Olympic champion, Argentina 2-0. Despite the loss, Olympian Dave Carter was named tournament’s top goalkeeper.
The women’s team from Field Hockey Canada was fourth, losing a tightly contested bronze medal game against the United States 2-1.
Gymnastics
Artistic gymnasts from Gymnastics Canada won seven medals in Lima, Peru, competing at the Senior Pan American Championship. Brooklyn Moors won three medals – one of each colour – for the best overall Canadian performance. More details are available at gymcan.org.
Tennis
Related: How Shapovalov mirrors some of the best in tennis
Denis Shapovalov of Canada returns to Rafael Nadal of Spain during round of sixteen play at the Rogers Cup tennis tournament, Thursday, August 10, 2017 in Montreal. Shapovalov’s coach wasn’t surprised that the teenager was able to keep his head while upsetting a tennis legend on centre court at the Rogers Cup.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Denis Shapovalov may not have come away with hardware at the Rogers Cup, but in reaching the semifinals, the 18-year-old Canadian has put himself in a company with elites, while jumping over 40 spots in the ATP World Tour rankings, firmly establishing himself as Canada’s second highest ranked male player.
Triathlon
Dominika Jamnicky was fourth at a World Cup in Yucatan, Mexico over the weekend. Triathlon Canada posted a video of Jamnicky reflecting on the result with some much deserved relaxation poolside.
Archery
Crispin Duena brought home a bronze medal at the 2017 Hyundai Archery World Cup circuit in Berlin, Germany. Dunes defeated Artem Makhnenko in the recurve menâs bronze medal match on Sunday to win his first international outdoor podium finish since the worlds in Belek in 2013. Duenas and Makhnenko were drawn at 4-4 heading into the fifth set until Crispin shot 28 points in the last set. After a 10 and a nine, Makhnenko won the game shooting an eight.
Rugby
It’s early days at the Women’s Rugby World Cup, where Rugby Canada’s women in the non-Olympic 15s format have won their first two matches in pool play. Points count as tiebreakers in pool competition, giving Canada incentive to stuff Hong Kong 98-0 in the opening match, then beating Wales 15-0 over the weekend. New Zealand will be the next test with top two advancing to the semifinals. Canada won silver at this event in 2014.
Speed skating
Short track Olympic trials are officially underway in Montreal. After two of the five competition days, Samuel Girard and Kim Boutin sit at the top of the provisional men and women’s rankings after winning two races each. On Sunday, Charles Hamelin and Steven Dubois tailgated Girard on the men’s side while Boutin increased her lead over ValĂ©rie Maltais and Jamie McDonald. At the end of the five days, the top three men and women will qualify for a provisional spot at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
The action will continue at 7:50 on Wednesday. Find all the details here.
