June 9, 2024

Richmond, BC – Canada places sixth at the 2024 Canada Cup.

The Canadians, ranked fifth in the world, performed a demanding tournament up against the top teams in the world. After winning their opening match against the second ranked team in the world, Australia (58-54), they fell short in their following games over the course of regular pool play.

CAN vs. USA: 51-53

CAN vs. FRA: 46-53

CAN vs. JAP: 42-44

CAN vs. GB: 51-52

Following pool play, Team Canada went head-to-head against Team USA in the battle for fifth place. The first half of the game saw the Canadians trailing the Americans by only two points, despite the team not having 3.5 athlete, Zak Madell, on the court. The strong American team was able to pull forward by an additional four points in the third, which was ultimately too far of a lead for the Canadians to come back from. Rookie athlete, Joel Ewert, made his debut at Canada Cup in the fourth quarter with a solid four tries. Despite a spirited effort, the team ultimately fell to the United States, with a final score of 52-43, and finishing sixth in the tournament.

There was a total of six countries competing at the tournament, with final rankings as follows:

Gold: Japan

Silver: Australia

Bronze: Great Britain

4^th: France

5^th: United States of America

6^th: Canada

Rio Kanda Kovac, #1, was awarded “Best in Class – 2.5” at the close of the tournament. 

Canada Cup marks the final international tournament before the teams will congregate in Paris this summer for the 2024 Paralympics.  A total of eight teams will compete in Paris for the chance to bring home gold: defending gold medal champions Great Britain (No. 4), USA (No. 1), Australia (No. 2), Japan (No. 3), Canada (No. 5), France (No. 6), Denmark (No. 7), and Germany (No. 9).