Racquetball Canada

Canadian Racquetball Press Releases

June 19, 2002

Team Canada ready to defend title

Winnipeg, MB - A talented and determined Canadian team is preparing to defend its title at the eleventh World Championships.

Head Coach Ron Brown (Winnipeg) has announced the team that will represent Canada at the 2002 Racquetball World Championships in San Juan, Puerto Rico from August 2-9. The players are:

Men's Singles: Kane Waselenchuk (Edmonton), Brian Istace (Calgary)
Men's Doubles: Michael Green (Burlington), Mike Ceresia (Burlington)
Women's Singles: Jennifer Saunders (Winnipeg), Josee Grand'Maitre (Longueuil)
Women's Doubles: Amanda MacDonald (Prince Albert), Karina Odegard (Saskatoon)

"Our team is ranked #1 going into the Worlds," said Istace, 29, "which gives us a great chance at repeating the title." That top-seeding was earned at the 2000 World Championships in Mexico where, for the first time ever, Canada won the World Cup.

Since then, Canada has followed up with a first-place finish at the 2002 Tournament of the Americas in Bolivia, including a first-time ever gold medal win by the Canadian women's team. Karina Odegard, 19, of Saskatoon was part of the women's doubles team that won gold in Bolivia, and was on the World Championship team in 2000. "I'm excited about going - we have a very strong team." Odegard and MacDonald, 24, are the current Canadian doubles champions.

Winnipeg's Jennifer Saunders, 25, is the newly crowned Canadian singles champ. "Over the coming weeks I'll be training hard on my fitness and my game. I want to represent Canadian racquetball to the best of my ability, and I want to strongly contribute to the team as we retain our title."

According to Canadian singles champion Michael Green, 27, "Our men's team has exactly the same people as two years ago, but we're all much stronger now than we were then. I feel great about our chances." Green, Istace and Waselenchuk are all highly-ranked players on the men's professional racquetball circuit in the US.

Doubles expert Mike Ceresia, 39, is on track in his training. "There is nothing like pulling on the shirt with the Maple Leaf," said Ceresia who partnered with Green to help Canada win Gold in 2000. "We expect the competition from the top countries to be fierce, but we are sending a team with a lot to prove - our team goal is to retain the World Cup, which will be like winning the Stanley Cup."

Also accompanying the team will be referee Cal Smith (Vancouver). "Coming off our fantastic finish at this year's Tournament of the Americas, our team has great confidence that they can continue to be the best in the world." He added, "These athletes move so well on the court, they could all excel at any sport that they choose."

Coaches Ron Brown and Michel Gagnon (Longueuil) will hold a training camp in Winnipeg during the weekend of July 12-14. The players will leave for Puerto Rico in early August, to compete against more than 30 other countries.

Site designed by FernWeb