Team BC keeps adding to medal tally on day 12

Team BC Judo added two silver and two bronze medals to their opening day count at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, Alberta. The lightweight division finals held a full day of competition.
 
Kimiko Kamstra (Prince George) lost in the gold medal final by submission to Evelyn Beaton (AB) in the -44kg weight category. Kamstra takes home the silver medal at these games after having to fight a full day of pool matches to secure her place in the final.
 
Klavdia Danilkov (Vancouver) was defeated by Emilia Tesanovic (AB) in the -48kg weight category following her own day of competition. Danilkov earned the silver medal. Danilkov was defeated by submission.
 
Gabriela De Sousa, Female Coach of Team BC Judo discussed the girls finish today.
 
“Both the girls did really well today. They had strong gripping, strong technique. While they both came here looking for gold, they should be proud of their podium finish at the Canada Winter Games”
 
Korin Gardner (Nanaimo) defeated Katuso Leung (Alberta) to win a bronze medal in the male -55kg category.
 
“I feel pretty happy about it. I am satisfied with the bronze medal finish today,” said Gardner of his performance today. “I was able to perform a Ura nagi (sacrifice suplex throw) pick-up throw twice today, which I am pretty happy about.”
 
Team BC teammate Finn Shroeder (Whistler) then defeated Ethan Kean (NL) in seconds to earn himself a bronze medal in the -66kg category.
 
“I am happy with bronze. I was able to land a Morote seio-nage (shoulder throw) in the bronze medal fight to end it; it’s one of my favourite throws.” Schroeder had golden expectations for himself but he is happy with the podium finish and looks forward to the team competition later this week.
 
Competition resumes Wednesday with the individual finals in the heavy-weight divisions.

Team BC won four medals in cross country events. Ethan Hess (Pemberton) won the gold medal; Leo Samarelli (Vancouver) won the silver and Paul Finkbeiner (Vancouver) swept the podium in Para Nordic Sit Men event.

“That is what we were hoping for. Honestly, when we looked at the field and the athletes we were bringing forward we were pretty confident it would be one and two that we were going to be able to pull off. Paul pulled through and got the bronze, so I am really excited,” said Hess. “That is good for us going into these next races that we have gotten off to a great start. I’m very proud.”

Hess finished with a time of 9:43.00, Sammarelli’s time of 12:33.20 won him the silver medal and Paul Finkbeiner took bronze with a time of 13:44.50.

In the women’s sprint free finals Team BC’s Benita Peiffer (Whistler) took the silver medal, finishing with a time of 2:54.10. Ontario cross country skier Shaylynn Loewen took gold with a time of 2:53.80 and Quebec’s Laura Leclair bronze with a time of 3:00.05.

“Sprint is one of my best competitions and I just had fun with my teammates today and was able to pull a good result,” said Peiffer.

She mentioned after having a tough start to her season with medical issues, she has pulled things together for the Games, earning silver in the 7.5 kilometre free event, and will travel to biathlon nationals after that.

“I was not expecting this at all. I was actually a little nervous coming into it all because there is a lot of pressure to come here and perform well. I am honestly so happy with the results I have had here,” said Peiffer. 

Maya Jonas (North Vancouver), along with her guide Jamie Stirling (North Vancouver), won bronze in the para-nordic standing 2.5 km female event. 

Maja Bonham (Vancouver), Jordyn Yendley (Kelowna), Gavin Dodd (Kamloops) and Declan McLean (Burnaby) won the bronze medal in the team event in trampoline. 

Team BC was up first in Flight 1 with Nova Scotia. First up was Dodd laying down a solid performance right out of the gates with a 53.185, giving him a close second place score against the top Nova Scotia athlete. Bonham was up next and also delivered a very solid and technical performance, with a score of 48.865. McLean was third and scored 48.625, right behind teammate, Bonham. Yendley took the anchor of Team BC and rounded it off with yet another flawless routine with a score of 47.950. The top two scores for male and female are counted towards the team, thus resulting in Dodd’s and Bonham’s combined score of 102.05.

In women’s hockey, Team BC is 3-0 in the round robin of the 2019 Canada Winter Games after handily defeating Nova Scotia on Tuesday.

Rachel Teslak (Cranbrook), Jenna Buglioli (Port Moody) and Kaitlin Chan (Richmond) all scored for Team BC in the first period, while Nova Scotia only managed to get on the board once during a powerplay opportunity.

Team BC was unable to extend their two goal lead in the middle frame, with both teams kept off the scoreboard.

Nova Scotia couldn’t silence the BC offence for long though. They had a five goal burst in the third period. The team will now have Wednesday off and will next play on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

Team BC badminton players qualified for the finals of the women’s singles, men’s singles and women’s doubles events at the 2019 Canada Winter Games.

Antonio Li (Victoria) advanced to the men’s singles finals winning his matches 21-19 and 21-14.

In the women’s singles, Wendy Zhang (Richmond) advanced by winning her matches 21-14 and 21-16.

Kylie Chen and Zhang advanced to the women’s finals, winning their matches 24-22, 21-16. They lost the second set 19-21.

The men’s singles finals start at 12:30 p.m. at the Gary W. Harris building, the women’s singles finals start at noon.

Team BC athletes are holding down top positions in the novice figure skating events after competition on Tuesday at the Canada Winter Games.

The dancing duo of Kiera Kam (Burnaby) and Matthew Carter (Langley) are tied for second place after the pattern dance. Emily Millard (North Vancouver) is in second place after the short program and Wesley Chiu (Richmond) is in first place after the short program.

“It definitely boosts my confidence, but puts more expectations and pressure on me for the free program,” said Chiu, who is the reigning novice men’s champion, about sitting in first place.

Day three at the squash competition began with a marathon day of Team Matches. In Women’s Pool B action, both British Columbia and Nova Scotia have jumped out in front with 3-0 while Alberta is close behind at 2-1 and just ahead of Manitoba at 1-2. Probably the biggest highlight leading into Day Four is the Pool B showdown between British Columbia and Nova Scotia as the winner will certainly stand a good chance of finishing the round robin in first place.

Men’s Pool B has British Columbia in the lead with 3-0 record with Alberta close behind at 3-1 and as they slowly pull away from the rest of the pack Nova Scotia is 1-1, New Brunswick is 1-2 and still looking for their first wins is Newfoundland and the Northwest Territories.

In curling’s afternoon session, both teams squared off with Prince Edward Island in Draw 6 of the tournament. The women’s team of Gracelyn Richards (Courtenay), Keelie Duncan (Comox), Chanelle Meeres (Courtenay), and Bryn Woloshyn (Royston) got their first ever win at a national event in a nail biter. After taking a 6–1 lead after six ends, PEI battled back with a massive five-point seventh end to tie the game. With the hammer in the eighth end, Team BC took one point to seal their first victory of the Games by a final score of 7–6.

The team of Hayato Sato (Coquitlam), Joshua Miki (Port Coquitlam), Dawson Ballard (Surrey), and Troy Chong (Burnaby) also won their afternoon session matchup against PEI. The team got off to a great start, stealing a point in the first end. They would go on to steal points in two more ends before PEI conceded the game in the seventh end, giving Team BC an 8–2 victory.

In the evening session, both teams competed against Northwest Territories. On the women’s sheet, Team BC built on the momentum gained in the afternoon game, getting out to a quick 5–1 lead after three ends. They didn’t relent and ended up taking the game 10–2 after Northwest Territories conceded after seven ends. In the men’s game, Team BC got off to a hot start, taking six points in the first two ends. They cruised to a victory, taking the game 13–3 after Northwest Territories conceded after six ends.

Going into the fourth day of competition on Wednesday, the Team BC women sit with a record of 2–3, while the Team BC men are 4–1. The teams will play Ontario in Draw 8 at 10:00 am and Saskatchewan in Draw 9 at 5:00 pm.

In archery, Emma Chylinski (North Vancouver) and Spencer Gamache (Quesnel) represented BC in the Compound event. Chylinski finished the day with a score of 566, 5th in the standings behind Yukon’s Sofija Jewell. Gamache finished his first round win a score of 560 putting him 8th in today’s standings behind Nova Scotian Colby Boutilier.

In  the recurve event, BC was represented by Adi Shapira (Vancouver) and Adam Deane (Delta). Shapira would finish her day in 5th position with a score of 503. Deane’s score of 546 would earn him a 4th spot in the standings.