Canada 4th and 6th at BNP Paribas Wheelchair Tennis World Team Cup

Canada concludes run at World Team Cup

Written by: Tennis Canada

An impressive campaign by Canada’s junior squad at the BNP Paribas World Team Cup in Alghero, Italy came to a close on Sunday, after a successful week of competition.

Despite a 2-1 loss at the hands of Brazil on Sunday, the team recorded a fourth place finish in this year’s event, the first time Canada has been represented with a junior team since 2002. Brilliant performances over the course of week by Tomas Bourassa (BC), Thomas Venos (BC), and Puisand Lai (ON), were highlighted by the team’s dispatching of eventual champions, United States, on Wednesday during round-robin action.

While the heartbreak of missing out on a medal is still fresh for the young Canadians, their impressive result has qualified the team for direct entry into the 2018 edition of the tournament.

The Canadian quad team also secured a spot into main draw for next year’s World Team Cup, thanks to their hard work in Italy.

Meeting their objective of a top six finish, Canada fell 2-1 to the Netherlands in their final day of competition on Friday, just narrowly missing out on a fifth place spot.

The quad team, which included Gary Luker (ON), Rob Shaw (ON), Mika Ishikawa (BC), and Sarah Hunter (BC), overcame a slow start in the early stages of the round-robin, but were able to turn things around and push to complete their objectives.

“Both our teams delivered on the stated objectives and came so close to over delivering. The quads were a match point away from reaching fifth place and the juniors were only a match point away from the finals,”
reflected team manager, Kai Schrameyer.

“I could not be prouder of the team. They and the supporting staff, families, and friends represented Canada fabulously and gained a lot of respect and new friendships here in Sardinia. The Italian hospitality and quality of organization was impressive. A fabulous World Team Cup comes to a close.”

The BNP Paribas World Team Cup, considered the Davis Cup and Fed Cup of wheelchair tennis, ran from May 1-7 in Italy. For complete scores and results, please visit the official tournament website.