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 sa国际传媒 84-76 in front of a cacophonous crowd at Caracas in a FIBA Americas World Cup men鈥檚 basketball qualifier. Spanish pro league player Conor Morgan of Victoria, who helped lead sa国际传媒 to the silver medal at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, scored four points. Kyle Wiltjer, son of Olympian Greg Wiltjer of Victoria, led sa国际传媒 with 21 points while Phil Scrubb scored 16, Brady Heslip 14 and Joel Anthony 11.
鈥淚 am incredibly proud of our guys as we battled through incredible adversity just to make the game,鈥� said Canadian coach Roy Rana.
鈥淲e all understand this is not a one-game qualification, but part of a larger process. We鈥檒l continue to battle for our country.鈥�
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 sa国际传媒 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 sa国际传媒 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鈥檚 2018 field-hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar, India. The Canadian team 鈥� which includes Olympians and former University of Victoria Vikes stars Matthew Sarmento, Brenden Bissett and Keegan Pereira 鈥� play South Africa today in a revenge match after losing to the South Africans in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. It鈥檚 pretty much a must-win for the Canadian national side, known evocatively around the hockey world as the Red Caribou.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 have a great Commonwealth Games and now we have a little bit of a rivalry with South Africa,鈥� said Canadian head coach Paul Bundy.
鈥淚t鈥檚 created a lot of motivation for the guys. We have a pretty clear mandate for that game: We want to win that game.鈥�
sa国际传媒 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.
sa国际传媒 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鈥檚 team, based in Vancouver, and the Victoria-based Canadian women鈥檚 field-hockey team are the 2019 Pan Am Games next summer in Lima, Peru.
RUGBY SEVENS: Connor Braid of Victoria predicted 鈥渓ungs would be burning鈥� as Langford-based sa国际传媒 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 sa国际传媒.
Braid finished with four tries and Pat Kay of Duncan with three as sa国际传媒 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 鈥� which also includes Luke McCloskey of Victoria, Isaac Kaay of the UVic Vikes and former UVic great Nathan Hirayama as captain 鈥� now heads to the South Africa Sevens in Cape Town next weekend.
Dubai was the opening tournament of the men鈥檚 World Series, out of which the top-four finishers will advance to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It鈥檚 a 10-event series, which includes the sa国际传媒 Sevens from March 9-10. The festive tournament annually sells out the lower bowl of sa国际传媒 Place.
The Langford-based Canadian women鈥檚 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鈥檚 World Series stop is the sa国际传媒 Sevens from May 11-12 at Westhills Stadium in Langford.
SOCCER: sa国际传媒鈥檚 鈥渢eam tomorrow,鈥� with midfielder Jazmine Wilkinson of Nanaimo, finished fourth in the FIFA U-17 women鈥檚 World Cup in Uruguay after a 2-1 loss to New Zealand in the bronze-medal game on Saturday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a heck of a ride for these young people,鈥� said Canadian head coach and two-time Olympic bronze-medallist Rhian Wilkinson, in a statement.
鈥淚t 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.鈥�
