Photo credit Éric Vaillancourt
OTTAWA (CIS) – Canadian Interuniversity Sport, in conjunction with Badminton Canada, announced Thursday the 10 student-athletes who will represent Canada in badminton at the 2015 Summer Universiade in Gwangju, South Korea (July 3-14).
Gwangju 2015 website: www.gwangju2015.com
Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/summer/2015/index
The Gwangju badminton tournament will run from July 6 to 12. All finals are set for July 12 with exception of the women’s and men’s finals in team competition, set for July 8.
Canada will compete in the sport at the Universiade for the third time, after 2007 in Bangkok and 2013 in Kazan, Russia.
Highlighting the delegation headed for South Korea are three returnees from the 2013 squad, including Stéphanie Pakenham of Quebec City, Philippe Charron of Montreal and Philippe Gaumond of Saint-Hyacinthe, Qué., all former under-23 national champions.
Still looking for its first medal in badminton at the biennial FISU Games, Canada reached the round of 32 in numerous events in Kazan, including women’s singles (Pakenham), men’s singles (Gaumond), women’s doubles (Pakenham), men’s doubles (Charron/Gaumond) and mixed doubles (Charron). The Canucks also took 14th place in team competition.
Rounding out the men’s roster for the Gwangju Games are Alexis Gohier-Drolet of Laval, Que., Maxime Marin of Montreal and Maxime Tétreault of Drummondville, Que.
In women’s action, Caroline Beauregard of Saint-Hyacinthe, Joanne Chen of Vancouver, Vicky Girard of Rigaud, Que., and Tracy Wong of Richmond Hill, Ont., join Pakenham on the lineup.
A member of the senior national team, Charron is the most experienced member of the group. A silver medallist in doubles and mixed doubles at the 2014 Canadian championships, the 25-year-old University of Montreal student also competed at a pair of FISU world university championships in 2014 in Cordoba, Spain, and in 2012 in Gwangju, where he helped Canada to a sixth-place finish in the team standings.
Gaumond, Marin, Tétreault, Pakenham and Wong were also at the last FISU championships in Spain.
In South Korea, the red and white delegation will be coached by Canadian badminton legend Denyse Julien. Between 1981 and 2004, the three-time Olympian (1992, 1996, 2004) captured an impressive 31 national championship titles, an all-time record.
“The main objective of the athletes who will represent Canada at the 2015 Universiade is to leave everything on the court in every match,” said Julien, who will double as the team leader in Gwangju. “We will compete against world powerhouses and I expect solid performances from our athletes.”
CANADIAN ROSTER
Name University/College Hometown Event(s)
Women
Caroline Beauregard Montreal Saint-Hyacinthe, Que. D & MD
Joanne Chen Toronto Vancouver, B.C. D
Vicky Girard Dawson College Rigaud, Que. D
Stéphanie Pakenham Laval Quebec City, Que. S & MD
Tracy Wong Humber College Richmond Hill, Ont. S & D
Men
Philippe Charron Montreal Montreal, Que. D & MD
Philippe Gaumond UQAM Saint-Hyacinthe, Que. S & D
Alexis Gohier-Drolet UQAM Laval, Que. S
Maxime Marin Laval Montreal, Que. D & MD
Maxime Tétreault Montreal Drummondville, Que. D
Manager / Coach: Denyse Julien, Badminton Canada (Rouyn-Noranda, Que.)
LEGEND:
S: singles
D: doubles
MD: mixed doubles