Brazil, Canada finish atop at Americas Team, Pairs Championships

To no surprise, Brazil and Canada continued their display of strong form, picking up medals at the 2015 Boccia Americas Team and Pairs Championships, which concluded Sunday (3 May) in Monday in Montreal, Canada.

Brazil picked up one gold and two silvers, while Canada also took home a triad of medals: gold, silver and bronze.

In the BC1/BC2 teams competition, the results were a mixed bag. Round A featured a tight battle among Argentina, Brazil and Canada. Team USA finished fourth in both rounds, although their matches against Canada and Argentina proved extremely close. Ultimately, though, with five wins out of six, Argentina came out as victors, narrowly beating Brazil’s four wins and Canada’s three.

But Argentina failed to make the podium in the BC3 pairs competition. This time, Brazil came out on top, winning all four matches. Canada took silver, and Colombia came through to snatch the bronze, thanks to their decisive wins over Argentina and the USA.

The BC4 pairs competition made for a nail biter, with both Brazil and Canada winning four of the five matches played. In the end, the number of points conceded decided the outcome of the medal table, with Canada taking gold, having conceded just five points, compared to Brazil’s 15. Argentina were back on the podium, coming through to take bronze, just ahead of fourth-place Colombia. Chile and the USA finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

The Americas Team and Pairs Championships was the second Boccia International Sports Federation (BISFed) sanctioned event of the year and provided the first opportunity for teams from the Americas to gain vital ranking points ahead of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Complete results can be found on BISFed’s website.

Next up for the athletes is the 2015 Boccia World Opens in Poland and Korea, ahead of the Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games.