Canada’s Fours Team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
Ottawa, Ontario | March 28, 2018
|
Name |
Hometown |
Position |
|
Leanne Chinery |
Victoria, BC |
Skip |
|
Pricilla Westlake |
Delta, BC |
Vice |
|
Joanna Cooper |
Calgary, AB |
Second |
|
Jacqueline Foster |
Bridgetown, NS |
Lead |
The women’s fours team consists of Leanne Chinery (Victoria, BC), Joanna Cooper (Calgary, AB), Jacqueline Foster (Bridgetown, NS), and Pricilla Westlake (Delta, BC). Three of the four members on this team secured a bronze medal at the multi-nations event at Broadbeach in the spring of 2017 and will be looking to improve on their performance there.
The Canadians will be looking to get out of a tough pool that consists of Scotland, Wales, and Niue. Scotland’s women have done particularly well at the last two major international events, winning bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and going 7-2 at the 2016 World Championships. Canada played well against Scotland at the multi-nations event, and should feel confident going into that match. Wales will prove challenging, as their women finished second overall at the 2016 World Championships. This pool could very easily see a three-way tie; should that be the case, point differential will play a deciding role on which countries get to advance. For Canada’s quartet to have a chance at advancing, it is crucial that they boost their net point differential by keeping their losses to a minimum and winning by large margins. A key opportunity for Canada to advance is for Cooper to capitalize on countries who underestimate her. Although relatively new to the High Performance program in comparison to her teammates, Cooper has competed in New Zealand for the past two seasons and should be able to adjust to the Broadbeach greens quickly. For the countries who don’t know her, they will soon!
|
Team |
2014 CWG |
2016 World Championships |
|
CANADA |
1-2 |
1-8 |
|
Niue |
0-4 |
N/A |
|
Scotland |
3-1 (Bronze Medal) |
7-2 |
|
Wales |
0-2 |
6-3 |
|
Name |
Hometown |
Position |
|
Cam LeFresne |
Enfield, NS |
Skip |
|
Greg Wilson |
Cochrane, AB |
Vice |
|
Chris Stadnyk |
Niagara Falls, ON |
Second |
|
Ryan Stadnyk |
Niagara Falls, ON |
Lead |
The men’s fours team consists of Cameron LeFresne (Enfield, NS), Greg Wilson (Cochrane, AB), Chris Stadnyk (Niagara Falls, ON) and Ryan Stadnyk (Niagara Falls, ON). This team has experience from the multi-nations event as well and will be looking to improve upon their performance.
In a group with New Zealand, Wales, Papua New Guinea, and Cook Island, Canada will need to bring their A-game in order to proceed to the quarter-finals. New Zealand will clearly be the team to beat, having gone undefeated at the 2016 World Championships and claiming the gold medal there. Wales is sending a younger contingent, featuring the likes of Wyatt and Tomlinson (bronze medalists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games), as well as Owen who was a finalist at the 2018 World Youth Championships. The key for Canada to advance is to bring the confidence from the multi-nations event. Canada defeated a similar Wales team in 2017, and will need to build on that confidence to give themselves a chance at advancing to the playoffs. Starting the round robin with a victory over Wales would certainly help to ensure that their confidence is there.
|
Team |
2014 CWG |
2016 World Championships |
|
CANADA |
2-2 |
3-1-5 |
|
Cook Island |
2-2 |
N/A |
|
New Zealand |
1-1-2 |
9-0 (Gold Medal) |
|
Papua New Guinea |
1-3 |
N/A |
|
Wales |
3-1 |
4-1-4 |
For more information on the 2018 Commonwealth Games, please visit:
http://www.worldbowls.com/event/commonwealth-games/
For more information on Broadbeach Bowls Club, please visit:
http://www.broadbeachbowlsclub.com/
For more information, please contact:
Jake Schuknecht, Technical Coordinator, Bowls Canada Boulingrin
jschuknecht@bowlscanada.com
About the Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games are a multi-sport event that takes place every four years amongst the Commonwealth countries. The 2018 event will take place along the Gold Coast of Australia, with the bowls portion of the event being hosted at the Broadbeach Bowls Club from April 4 – April 15, 2018.
About Bowls Canada Boulingrin
Bowls Canada Boulingrin (BCB) is the governing body responsible for lawn bowls in Canada. The BCB mission is to advance the sport of bowls in Canada. For more details on Bowls Canada Boulingrin and the sport of lawn bowls, visit
www.bowlscanada.com.
