Twenty years later, the Canadian women’s wheelchair basketball team is back in the semifinals of the Paralympic Games, securing its spot in the semifinals with a 71-53 victory over the Germans on Wednesday.
Met in the mixed zone after the game, Quebec’s Rosalie Lalonde quickly pointed out that the curse was finally a thing of the past. In addition to the Paralympic Games in Beijing, Rio and Tokyo, the Canadian team had also ranked fifth at the last two World Championships. In London, in 2012, it took sixth place.
“We’ve been trying to make it to the quarter-finals for so long,” said the Canadian team member since 2015. “This is a big moment for us! We absolutely wanted this victory, it feels really good.”
The celebration of the Canadians spoke volumes at the end of the match and corroborated the words of the Saint-Clet player. As if an enormous weight had been lifted.
“It was a great team effort tonight. We are a united team and we demonstrated that today,” said Élodie Tessier.
Kady Dandeneau had a strong start to the game at Arena Bercy. The British Columbian scored 13 of Canada’s 17 points in the first quarter to give them a 17-12 lead. The ball moved around more in the second quarter. Rosalie Lalonde and Élodie Tessier both made nice plays to give Canada a 34-22 lead.
Their contribution continued during the second half, which was dominated by the Canadians.
Relying on the most advantageous oppositions against the opposing defense, they took the lead by 21 points with 7 minutes left in the match. Their opponents reduced the gap afterwards, but without really threatening the lead of the maple leaf which held until the end.
Élodie Tessier finished the game with 10 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist. Her intensity made things difficult for the Germans, especially in transition, both on offense and defense. An aspect of the game that she particularly likes.
“I find it satisfying to block the taller players, to play under the basket. I like to make my teammates shine, it’s one of my strengths, but tonight, they made me shine!” admitted the athlete from Saint-Germain-de-Grantham.
PHOTO KACPER PEMPEL, REUTERS
“We’ve been trying to make it to the quarter-finals for so long,” said Rosalie Lalonde, a member of the Canadian team since 2015. “This is a great moment for us! We absolutely wanted this victory, it feels really good.”
For her part, Rosalie Lalonde scored 6 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, in addition to making a steal. Cindy Ouellet scored 2 points in the victory. Sofia Fassi Fehri is also representing Canada in Paris, for her first Paralympic Games, but did not play in this game.
The German players finished fourth at the Tokyo Games and at the last World Championships.
We know them very well, since we played against them in friendly matches this summer. We were the favourites and we arrived with confidence, but they also gave a good match. We didn’t want to repeat fifth place. The curse is over. Now we want more and we want to go for a podium.
Rosalie Lalonde
To do this, the Canadians will have to face the Dutch on Friday, the reigning world and Paralympic champions.
Let’s remember that the Canadian men’s team will also play in the semi-finals of the Paris Paralympic Games. A first since 2012, in their case. They will face the United States on Thursday.