Table tennis takes the spotlight for Team BC on Day 7

In table tennis, it has been quite the golden week for Team BC athlete Benita Zhou (Vancouver). One can only dream of attending the 2019 Canada Winter Games and competing, add on top of that – three gold medals consisting of team event, doubles and most recently this afternoon – the singles gold.
 
Zhou defeated Ann Shiao of Ontario (3-1) in the final match in front of a packed crowd at Westerner Park. Zhou demonstrated confidence in adversity as Shiao made a comeback to take the second game. She kept her opponents momentum subdued, not allowing Ontario to go on any runs.
 
“I really tried to stay calm and take it one ball at a time. I didn’t want to get too nervous out there,” said Zhou of her gold medal performance in the singles event. “I really enjoyed the cheer section today. They kept me pumped up confident.”
 
The singles gold medal tops off a great week of competition at the 2019 Canada Winter Games for Zhou.
 
“I cannot believe I won three gold medals! I don’t know what to say I am just so excited, I don’t even believe it.”
 
Zhou finishes the 2019 Canada Winter Games as the only Team BC athlete in week one to win three gold medals.

Team BC finishes the male table tennis competition with two medalists in the singles event. Steve Wang (North Vancouver) finishes with the silver medal after being defeated by top-ranked Edward Ly of Quebec in the male singles final. David Lin (Richmond) defeated Tommy Xu of Quebec to take the bronze medal.
 
In a singles final, where both podium matches took place side by side, the crowd was rocking and the atmosphere was intense. Both matches had massive plays the boys really put on a show for the fans.
 
With an athlete in both the singles medals matches’ simultaneously, coaches Zhenyu Qi and Michelle Liaw had to divide the responsibilities
 
“You come here and aim to win, so to have two women and two men in the finals was amazing. I am incredibly proud of my boys. It was amazing how much the athletes grew this week. As a coach, I learned a tremendous amount this week and I am proud of the team,” said Coach Zhenyu Qi.
 
Team BC table tennis had quite the week. Finishing the day with five medals and the competition with seven, the athletes fought hard to defeat the opposing provinces in Red Deer.

Team BC freestyle skier Skye Clarke (Vancouver) earned her second medal at the Canada Winter Games in as many days.

Clarke, who won gold in slope style Wednesday at Canyon Ski Resort, landed silver with her first jump that scored 83.40 points.

She was joined on the podium by Josephine Howell (Mount Currie) who scored an 80.20 on her first jump to secure bronze.

Caoimhe Heavey (Fernie) finished in fourth place, scoring a 69.40 in round one and 63.20 in round two
.
In men’s freestyle action, Kai Smart (Whistler) broke his ski and had to borrow a pair of skis from UK Olympian and World Champion slope style athlete, James Woods. Smart qualified for the finals using Woods’ skis on his second run. Smart was the top male finisher in 5th place.

Friday is the half pipe qualifications and finals at Calgary Olympic Park (COP) in Calgary for the final competition for the freestyle team.

In long track speed skating, the men’s mass start race was scheduled for Wednesday but due to an officiating error and a dispute about the race winner, the organizing committee decided that the mass start would be re-raced.

This may have had a positive impact on Josh Telizyn (Fort St. John), who was able to finish 4th in the re-race due to point accumulations on the sprint laps. His result in the nullified race was not as strong.

Eric Orlowsky (Prince George) also had a strong race, managing to maintain pace with the main group for a majority of the race.

Kieran Hanson (Prince George) had a strong start to the race as well and was trying to work with his teammates in this strategic race, however a fall coming around one of the corners set him too far back of the rest of the athletes and he was lapped, thus eliminating him from the race. 

On the final day of gymnastics competition at the 2019 Canada Winter Games, Team BC gymnastics hit the podium. Two athletes battled for top spots at Collicut Centre during the Individual Apparatus Finals. These athletes qualified for the individual finals from their scores in the team competition earlier this week.
 
Emilie Hong (Langley) performed a Yurchenko one and a half to earn a silver medal in the Women’s Vault Final with a score of 9.587 from her second vault. In the individual vault finals, each competitor attempts their vault twice, with the judges keeping their higher score of the two.
 
This was only the third time Hong had ever competed the Yurchenko one and a half in competition. In this vault, Hong flipped onto the vault and then twisted one and a half times off in the air before sticking the landing.
 
“I had some normal competition nerves, but the energy was really good here today and it was so fun. It was crazy to have everyone’s eyes on only you while you performed as opposed to earlier this week,” said Hong when discussing her performance today. “I am happy with my score and so excited to have finished with silver.”
 
On the men’s side, Team BC athlete Ryan Woodhead (Tsawwassen) mixed in some new elements to his pommel horse routine that helped him to secure the bronze medal today.
 
Woodhead described his routine and celebration plans following the competition today.
 
“I added a Russian D flop on the single handle today. I almost fell but I kept it together, had a great dismount and stuck the landing. My circle felt really good and my toes were pointed. I am going to celebrate tomorrow with some junk food and a cheat day.”
 
Woodhead trains out of Ladner, BC at the Delta Gymnastics Society. He remembers being inspired by older athletes from his gym who had the opportunity to attend the 2015 Canada Winter Games.
 
“I knew this was a huge event. I had some fellow athletes that trained at my gym that went to the Games four years ago. It’s so cool now that I am here. It really is so awesome.”

Team BC’s wheelchair basketball finished in 6th place after a 56-38 win over Manitoba. This was the sport’s best finish in the last three Canada Games. Top scorer for BC was Joel Aukema (Langley) with 17 points followed by Nicholas van Bakel (Pender Island) chipping in with 10 points.

In ringette, BC lost 1-8 to Ontario in a semi-final game and will now play Manitoba for bronze on Friday. Team Ontario was up 3-1 at the half. The lone first half Team BC goal was scored by Sidney Crowe (Maple Ridge).

Team Ontario played very strong and dominated the possession in the first half, taking a 3-0 lead early in the game. Ontario then got into some penalty trouble, opening the door for Team BC to start their comeback attempt. 

Following half-time, Team Ontario came out blazing and scored two quick goals in six minutes to increase their lead to 5-1.

Team BC Short Track spent the day racing the 1000m event before moving into their final day of competition Friday at the 2019 Canada Winter Games. 

Sherilyn Chung (Coquitlam) and Jane Green (Mission) would finish their day off in the D Final, with Chung claiming 1st place in the heat and a final standing of 16th, while Jane would finish the 1000m event in 21st.

On the men’s side, Marshall Shupe (Maple Ridge), Keanan St. Rose (Prince George) and Noah Hyun (Port Coquitlam) all raced in the D Final. BC had a confident showing in the event, with the three BC Skaters leading most of the heat. However, Matej Pederson from Alberta would take 1st in the D final, with Shupe, St. Rose, and Hyun following in that order.

Friday will see Team BC men’s and women’s relay teams compete in the A final. The last podium finish for Team BC women in the relay event was at the 2007 Canada Games with a silver medal and had a 5th place finish at the 2015 Canada Winter Games. Team BC men raced in the A Final in 2007, but were disqualified and did not medal. They achieved a 4th place finish at the 2015 Canada Winter Games.

In hockey, Team BC lost in overtime to Nova Scotia 2-3.