Another quick update on the results from the last two days… we’ll have to be more in depth at another time, as we have to prepare for our pairs competition which starts tomorrow.
We left off last time letting everyone know that we needed to win our next game, and win well in order to advance to the top 8. In this game we won by a score of 5-1, which we were quite happy with… and then we had to wait to see how other players finished to determine if we would advance. Fortunately, we held on to the wild card spot and prepared to play Polychronidis from Greece later that day. He is the athlete that we beat at the World Cup in the Gold game to win the gold medal.
There is a long story behind this game, but the overall result was that he came out ahead, by a score of 6-3. We played a great game with many great shots, but unfortunately Polychronidis had an illegal ramp and an unfair advantage which was discovered in this game. The referees made a decision to cover the illegal piece, but to let the results of this, and his previous games stand. We attempted a protest but were not successful. We learned a lot during this process and can walk away from it knowing that we played a good, fair and honest game. It was then time to watch the rest of the games, and prepare to win gold in our pair competition!
In the top 3 for the BC3 division, an athlete from Korea, Park beat Polychronidis to win the Gold medal. Another athlete from Korea beat a player from Portugal to win the bronze medal.
Unfortunately, no other Canadian boccia athlete advanced out of pool play to be in the top 8, although a few will be in the top 10. We will get the final results tomorrow.
So, now on to tomorrow… in the pairs competition there is 2 pools of 4, with the top 2 advancing from each pool. In our pool there is Spain, Korea and China. We play our first game against Spain at 10:30 AM, and our second game against Korea at 1:30 PM. We are psyched and ready to play our game!
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Hi Sara & Paul,
Congratulations on your hard work!
Best wishes in the pairs & you should be able to HEAR us cheering for you.
GO CANADA GO!
Hi Paul and family,
I am just catching up with your blog after two weeks away. What a great description of all of the fun you have been having. Sounds like you have been in some tough matches but I am very proud that you have been a true Olympian and played by the rules.
Hope that the rest of your trip is as exciting as these first two weeks have been. Thanks for giving us this blog with all of the wonderful pictures.
Christine
It looks like you and your team are proving yourselves to be true atheletes – we are all very proud of your accomplishments.
All the very best
Butch & Marilyn Sakiyama
Hey how are things going for the pairs?
Liana
… it’s how you play the game. In the respect your the champ. Go Paul!
Dear Paul, Sarah and Derek,
A very, very warm welcome home. Here’s to many hours of sleep on beds that aren’t too hard, lots of fresh potatoes and corn that have not shared the same warming machine, great memories of a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and pride in your medals. Tom and I have enjoyed reading your blog so much. We have delighted in your wonderment and joy, been humbled by your dedication and perseverance, and awed by your gracious response to unwelcome decisions without compromising your sense of entitlement to fairness. Namaste.