Stingers basketball player brings home the silver
Concordia Stingers basketball player Kyle Desmarais is bringing home a silver medal from the XXVI Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, China to put in his trophy case. The Universiade, often referred to as the World University Games, is a biennial international multisport event open to student athletes between the ages of 17 and 28.
Desmarais was part of the strong Canadian basketball team that began the pool stage of the tournament with back-to-back wins against Turkey and Serbia. The Concordia guard figured prominently in a hard-fought battle against Australia, notching 10 points, including two three-pointers. The Canadians lost the game 63-61, but managed to finish first in their pool with a win against Hong Kong.
In the quarter-finals, Team Canada scored a resounding 71-58 victory over Romania before beating Lithuania in the semis. Serbia, whom Canada had beat 70-67 in the preliminary round, was the final hurdle between Desmarais’ team and gold. An uncharacteristically lacklustre offensive performance by the Canadians during the second half of the game allowed Serbia to come out on top.
“We just started missing shots and couldn’t get into any type of rhythm,” said Team Canada head coach Kevin Hanson. Nevertheless, he praised the efforts of the Canadian team, which included players from across the country. “With only four days to work together before this tournament started, I don’t think a lot of people back home thought we would make it this far, this is a gutsy group of guys and I am extremely proud.”
Team Canada won 24 medals at the Universiade, which wrapped up August 25. Four other Concordia athletes also competed at the games: swimmers Tim Ruse and Jonathan Gagné, and judo practitioners Stéfanie Tremblay and Justin Imagawa. Concordia does not have a swim or judo team, but student athletes do not have to be part of a university team to compete at the Universiade. The next edition of the Universiade will be held in the winter of 2013 in Maribor, Slovenia.
Related Links
• XXVI Summer Universiade
• Stingers men’s basketball
• Canadian Interuniversity Sport