Canadian basketball and soccer players say the toughest thing for any Canuck national team is to play qualifiers in Latin America. Playing host India in field hockey is no stroll through a rose garden, either. Island players are involved with Canadian national teams around the world this weekend:
Venezuela beat Canada 84-76 in front of a cacophonous crowd at Caracas in a FIBA Americas World Cup men’s basketball qualifier. Spanish pro league player Conor Morgan of Victoria, who helped lead Canada to the silver medal at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, scored four points. Kyle Wiltjer, son of Olympian Greg Wiltjer of Victoria, led Canada with 21 points while Phil Scrubb scored 16, Brady Heslip 14 and Joel Anthony 11.
“I am incredibly proud of our guys as we battled through incredible adversity just to make the game,” said Canadian coach Roy Rana.
“We all understand this is not a one-game qualification, but part of a larger process. We’ll continue to battle for our country.”
Venezuela moved to 8-1 in the second round of FIBA Americas qualifying for the 2019 World Cup in China, out of which will come the first seven qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Canadian team, without its NBA players until the World Cup, plays Brazil in Sao Paulo in a key game Monday. Both Canada and Brazil are 7-2.
Seven Americas teams will qualify for the World Cup. The final qualifying window is Feb. 21 and Feb. 24 with Canada playing Chile and Venezuela in the friendlier confines of the Halifax Metro Centre.
FIELD HOCKEY: James Kirkpatrick of Victoria earned his 50th cap in a commendable 2-1 loss to 2016 Rio Olympics silver-medallist Belgium to open the men’s 2018 field-hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar, India. The Canadian team – which includes Olympians and former University of Victoria Vikes stars Matthew Sarmento, Brenden Bissett and Keegan Pereira – play South Africa today in a revenge match after losing to the South Africans in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. It’s pretty much a must-win for the Canadian national side, known evocatively around the hockey world as the Red Caribou.
“We didn’t have a great Commonwealth Games and now we have a little bit of a rivalry with South Africa,” said Canadian head coach Paul Bundy.
“It’s created a lot of motivation for the guys. We have a pretty clear mandate for that game: We want to win that game.”
Canada closes pool play next Saturday against host and world No. 5 India in a country where only cricket surpasses field hockey in national sporting passion.
Canada did not qualify for the 2014 World Cup and placed 11th in its last appearance in 2010.
The first 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualifier for both the men’s team, based in Vancouver, and the Victoria-based Canadian women’s field-hockey team are the 2019 Pan Am Games next summer in Lima, Peru.
RUGBY SEVENS: Connor Braid of Victoria predicted “lungs would be burning” as Langford-based Canada entered the Dubai Sevens after missing the first eight crucial weeks of training at Westhills Stadium due to 13 players boycotting much of camp in protest of new funding and training initiatives installed by Rugby Canada.
Braid finished with four tries and Pat Kay of Duncan with three as Canada placed 11th in Dubai following a 38-5 victory over Zimbabwe and 28-12 loss to France on the consolation side Saturday. The Canadian team — which also includes Luke McCloskey of Victoria, Isaac Kaay of the UVic Vikes and former UVic great Nathan Hirayama as captain — now heads to the South Africa Sevens in Cape Town next weekend.
Dubai was the opening tournament of the men’s World Series, out of which the top-four finishers will advance to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It’s a 10-event series, which includes the Canada Sevens from March 9-10. The festive tournament annually sells out the lower bowl of B.C. Place.
The Langford-based Canadian women’s team won the silver medal Friday behind champion New Zealand in the Dubai Sevens and is second in the standings after two of six World Series events, with the top-four advancing to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The fifth women’s World Series stop is the Canada Sevens from May 11-12 at Westhills Stadium in Langford.
SOCCER: Canada’s “team tomorrow,” with midfielder Jazmine Wilkinson of Nanaimo, finished fourth in the FIFA U-17 women’s World Cup in Uruguay after a 2-1 loss to New Zealand in the bronze-medal game on Saturday.
“It’s been a heck of a ride for these young people,” said Canadian head coach and two-time Olympic bronze-medallist Rhian Wilkinson, in a statement.
“It was a heartbreak today. But then [Canadian players] are going to look back at this journey and be very motivated to push on to a new level. Yes, we wish we walked away with a medal, but the players have discovered something about themselves that will stay with them for the rest of their careers.”
