1996 - Phoenix, Arizona

Team : L'Équipe
Mike Ceresia, Jacques Demers, Josée Grand'Maître, Mike Green,
Sherman Greenfeld, Lori Jane Powell, Simon Roy, Vicki Shanks,
Christie Van Hees, Debbie Ward
Wheelchair : Fauteuil Roulant : Mark Cormack, Ken Michaylenko

Coaches : Entraîneurs - Ron Brown, Cal Smith (W/C : F.R.)
Referee : Arbitre - Denis Gaucher

Canada Shines in Phoenix!!

Men win Team Gold!

From Canadian Racquetball, October 1996, Vol. 1, No. 2 (author uncredited)

Every Canadian should be proud of the performance of our National Racquetball Team at the 1996 world championships in Phoenix, Arizona.

The questions going into the tournament were: couldthe Canadian team win on American soil? Would the switch by the Canadian men pay off? Could the Canadian women challenge the US women? How would the rookes play? (Van Hees and Green) Would there be another all Canadian final? (Greenfeld and Ceresia)

New head coach Ron Brown would have to shoulder the responsibility of both the mens and ladies teams because of Carol Mulhollands continuing knee problems. This would be a major chore, but Ron was up to the challenge.

The Canadian Men were seeded 2nd behind the USA. This meant if the draw held true Canada would meet a tough Mexican team in the semis, while the USA. Would play either Japan or Venezuela. The Americans always come well prepared with extensive game plans for the Canadian veterans, Roy, Greenfeld, and Ceresia. Coach Brown after consulting with former head coach Gary Ness and the teams veteran players decided to change the teams lineup. Greenfeld, Jacques Demers and Mike Green would play singles with Simon Roy and Mike Ceresia playing doubles. The Americans could not believe that Roy and Ceresia would play doubles with all their singles experience. Coach Brown felt that his strategy would pay off with a Greenfeld win and a doubles victory, as well as a steal of one of the two rookie single players matches. How would the team respond in the face of this controversial decision?

The team advanced easily to the semi-finals where they gave the Mexicans a thrashing that surprised everyone. Greenfeld easily handled Luis Munoz, Mike Green played well in defeating Alvaro Beltran, Jacques Demers who had been struggling found his form at the end of his match with Pedro Lara, and Ceresia/Roy disposed of Alvaro Muldonado and Taco Bustillos in two straight the team was hitting its stride just in time for the finals!

The format for the gold medal match would be the doubles match followed by #3, #2 and #1 singles. The US doubles team had veteran Bill Sell and Adam Karp (the fastest man in Racquetball). In past years the first match has set the tone for the entire day. Ceresia/Roy jumped to an early 7-2 lead buy quickly fell apart, losing the first game 15-8. Playing poorly and trailing 8-2 in the second before taking a pivotal time out. They changed to lob serves on both sides and the momentum switched. Game 2, Canada, 15-10 in a shocking turnaround. The tiebreaker proved to be the best game of the entire tournament. THe rallies were long and both teams were playing fantastic. Team Canada led 8-7 when Adam Karp rekilled an apparent Ceresia winner with a dive Greg Louganis would have appreciated! The US Duo scored two quick points to go ahead 9-8. Ceresia killed a backhand down the line but followed up with a forehand skip on a routine set-up from the service line. Match point for the Americans. Ceresia cut off the lob serve with a hard cross-court to Karp, who flipped the ball to the ceiling which Roy then rolled flat right in Karps face for the critical side out. Serving 8-10 Canada scored on a Ceresia backhand reverse pinch and a Roy pinch to tie the score at 10-10.

An Adam Karp skip gave the match to the Canadians in a heart pounding comeback! Match #2 featured US Veteran Derek Robinson against Canadian upstart Mike Green. These two faced each other in Cali, Columbia at the tournament of the Americas where Robinson controlled the match. This time was more of the same with Robinson having an answer for everything Green tried. The final score was 15-7, 15-10. The Americans now led 3 games to 2 with matches even at 1 apiece.

Match #3 had the speedy Jacques Demers playing TOdd O'Neil. Todd has beaten every top pro and is a seasoned veteran. Jacques is an unknown quantity outside QUebec. O'Neill was the heavy favorite buy Demers had other plans! Things were looking bad for Jacques early on as O'Neill took an 11-6 lead. Demers picked up the pace and O'Neill became very tight. Jacques began hitting drive Z serves to the left handed O'Neill that were scraping the back wall, producing numerous weak returns. O'Neill did not score again in the game. Game 2 was more of the same until the players were forced to change courts because of the live TV coverage. The match took on a carnival atmosphere with O'Neill stalling and Demers trying to remain calm. Finally after a 10 minute delay O'Neill showed up. Jacques led 12-7 when the American started to find his range. However, Demers was doing the same. To win a rally at this stage of the match you had to hit a flat rollout because both players were blanketing the court. Demers finally silenced the partisan crowd with a backhand pinch to complete the gargantuan upset.

The stage was set for the showdown between Sherman Greenfeld, the current World Champion and Ruben Gonzalez. Ruben, at 44 years of age commands the respect of everyone in racquetball because of his mental toughness and incredible longevity in a young mans game. Greenfeld has earned his reputation of being one of the best in the big matches. The situation had a Greenfeld win clenching the Gold for Team Canada. A Gonzalez win would introduce the total point tie break system. Gonzalez led the personal series 5 matches to 1.

Greenfeld who has never been afraid of the spotlight enjoyed the live APSN television coverage and everything about the match. This excitement spilled over to his play and he put on a wonderful exhibition of racquetball and squash angles like only he can. Ruben tried to hang in there but Greenfeld had too much and he cruised to a 15-7, 15-10 gold medal clinching victory!

The Canadians were euphoric, the Americans devastated. This was the first time since 1988 that the Canadian men had won the Mens Team Gold Medal. Team veterans Ceresia, Roy and Greenfeld were rookies when they were members of that winning team in 1988. THis time around they appreciated it even more, having lost in the finals in 1990, 1992, and 1994.

This years ladies team had veterans Vicki Shanks and Debbie Ward playing doubles, Josée Grand'Maître, Lori-Jane Powell and rookie Christie Van Hees playing singles. The team easily defeated Guatemala and Venezuela to advance to the semi-finals against the strong Japanese team. Every match was close but the Canadians were stronger when it counted as they cruised to a 4 matches to 0 sweep to advance to the final against the USA. The team were very confident going into the final as everyone was playing well and were very focused on the job at hand.

The first match featured Shanks/Ward playing the US Team of twin sisters Joy and Jackie Paraiso. The Americans won game one easily before the Canadians upped their intensity before game 2. They made a strong charge by Jackie Paraiso's strong play held off a highly motivated Shanks and Ward 15-13.

Match #2 had Lori-Jane Powell playing US Veteran Malia Baily. Baily was the slight favorite in this match because of her years of international experience. Lori-Jane played confidently, winning the first game 15-12. Baily stormed back in game 2, breaking a 6-6 tie on her way to a 15-7 victory. The tiebreaker was a thriller as both players upped their games. In the end Powell closed out the upset with a backhand pinch and an 11-7 victory.

Christie Van Hees, who possesses excellent ground strokes and intimidating power would face world #2 Cheryl Gudinas, who has good strokes and a tremendous will to win. Gudinas controlled the match but Van Hees put together some good combinations of points and showed why she will be a force to be reckoned with in women's racquetball for years to come. The final score was Gudinas winning two straight by scores of 15-8, 15-10.

Everything was riding on the final match of the day. The overall title, combining men's and women's play had Canada leading 4 matches to 3. The US Women had clinched the team title in the women's side. Could Josée Grand'Maître, the Canadian champion, pull off the upset of world #1 Michelle Gould?

Josée never got started in this match and Guild cruised to a convincing 15-5, 15-1 win. The final picture had the Canadian men beating the US 3-1 in matches while the women were defeated 3-1. The teams both had 4 victories each, but the USA prevailed winning 10 games to 8. The teams now had a well deserved day off before starting the individual rounds.

The individual half of the tournament would be tough because it is played in only three days. The early rounds would be played on Thursday, the quarters and semi's Friday, and the finals on Saturday. All the singles's players and both doubles teams made it to the quarter-finals. The individual draw was controversial because the top seeded players from Canada and the US had more difficult quarter-final matches, while the #2 players received easier matches.

Sherman faced Derek Robinson in the first quarter-final match. Sherman had many chances to get into the match, but his intensity was poor as Robinson, but his intensity was poor as Robinson eliminated the former Champion. Mike Green faced Ruben Gonzalez, but went down in two straight 115-4 [sic], 15-12. Mike played well and could have very well won this match with a break or two. Jacques Demers easily handled #1 Mexican Luis Munoz 15-4, 15-11 to advance to the semi's. Demers against Gonzalez for a birth in the final. The odds had to favour Demers considering his 15 years Ruben's junior. However Gonzalez prevailed, winning 15-11, 13-15, 11-4. This meant there would be an all American final. Todd O'Neill defeated Gonzalez for the singles crown.

In doubles action, Ceresia/Roy advanced to the semi's after struggling against the Columbian's. The semis' promised to be even tougher with the Venezuelan team having the highly skilled Favian Balmori playing on the left side. The teams split the first two games before Canada roared thru [sic] the tiebreaker, winning 11-4 to advance to the final. Once again it was Canada against the USA for the gold medal. Again the teams split the first two and in the tiebreaker the Americans surged ahead 7-2. Canada regrouped and scored six straight to lead 8-7. Roy then missed his favourite shot on an easy setup at the short line into the left corner that left him talking to himself. At 9-8 US both teams served four excruciating times with nobody being able to score. Finally Karp rolled out a dive and then caught a forehand in the crack to pull out on 11-8 victory for the gold medal win.

The women's draw had the same controversy, which meant that Lor-Jane Powell would face Michelle Gould in the quarter-finals. Michelle dominated this match 15-4, 15-1 to advance to the semi's. Josée Grand'Maître was favoured over American Maila Baily. Josée had never beaten an American in international competition before. Could she pull it off? Unfortunately, no. She fell to defeat, 15-6, 15-14.

Christie Van Hees advanced to the semi's after beating Jose Torres of Mexico. In facing Michelle Gould this match had the two most powerful players in the tournament facing off, blast for blast. The first game was 15-7 for Gould, however Christie put the pressure on in the second game by drive serving to both sides that had Michelle on the defensive for the first time all week. Gould eventually prevailed 15-12, but look for this rivalry to heat up at future international events.

Christie went on to defeat Malia Baily to finish with the bronze medal in this, her first World Championships.

The women's doubles team advanced to the semi's where they face Japan whom they had defeated earlier in the week. Game one was a disaster as Japan won 15-2. However Shanks and Ward got it together in game two and squeaked out a 15-12 victory. Canada dominated in the tiebreaker winning 11-4 to advance to the final. The final was controlled by the Americans as they won in two straight games 15-10, 15-4 to claim the gold medal.

In wheelchair, Ken Michalenko settled for the bronze medal after losing an 11-8 tiebreaker to American Steve Kuketz and Ray Boudreau placed 4th in his first world Championships.

Congratulations to all of the Canadian team members and to Coach Brown for a great effort and an excellent performance. A special word of thank to D'Arcy Bain, team Physiotherapist, who has fine tuned our athletes at international competitions since 1988. As well thanks to Cal Smith, the coach of our wheelchair team for assisting Coach Brown when two coaches were needed. Finally thanks to Dennis Gaucher who was the Canadian representative for officiating. Job well done everyone!!