Content and photos courtesy of Team Alberta:

For full details on everything happening at the 2019 Canada Winter Games, you can click here to go to their website. 

The action continued on Tuesday night at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, AB, with Alberta competing in women’s hockey and curling.

Alberta concluded the day with a total of 13 medals, for a cumulative total of 64 medals (22-25-17).

It was Super Tuesday for Team Alberta at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, AB with the team earning the most medals in a single day at these Canada Games with 13 medals (5-5-3). Before today, the last time Alberta had a 12-medal day was February 23, 2011, in Halifax.

Alberta earned five medals in Alpine skiing and seven medals in Judo and a single in trampoline.

Medals – February 26, 2019 (as of 7pm)

• Gold, Para-Alpine Giant Slalom, Tess Beasant
• Gold, Judo Individual - 44kg women, Evelyn Beaton
• Gold, Judo Individual - 48kg, Ema Tesanovic
• Gold, Para-Alpine Giant Slalom, Spencer Allan
• Gold, Judo Individual - 60kg, Joel Demaere
• Silver, Trampoline, Team Mixed, Team AB
• Silver, Alpine Giant Slalom, Britt Richardson
• Silver, Judo Individual - women 52kg, Kondelia Karas
• Silver, Judo Individual - men’s 50kg, Douglas O’Brien
• Silver, Judo Individual - men 66kg, Nathan Demaere
• Bronze, Alpine GS, Makenna Lebsack
• Bronze, Judo Individual - women 52kg, Michelle Grisales
• Bronze, Para-Alpine Giant Slalom, Hanna Chilson

ALPINE SKIING CONTRIBUTE TO FIVE MEDALS FOR ALBERTA IN ALPINE SKIING

The giant slalom events were featured today during the 2019 Canada Winter Games at the Nakiska Ski Resort. After earning two medals in the opening Super G events, Alberta’s women continued to excel by taking the silver and bronze medals in the two-run Giant Slalom race.

Britt Richardson, 15 of Calgary who won the bronze in the Super G on Monday, raced to a combined time of 1:44.70 medal, just 0.5 seconds off the gold medal time posted by Quebec’s Arianne Forget. Alberta’s Makenna Lebsack, 15, of Calgary, AB rounded up the podium in three.

In para-alpine, Alberta placed two skiers on the podium, with Tess Beasant, 14, of Calgary, AB winning the gold medal in the women’s giant slalom and Hanna Chilson winning the bronze medal. Beasant posted a combined the best time of 2:24.42, while Chilson posted a time of 2:29.65 for the bronze medal.

“I still managed to maintain my level of intensity while also being zen. When I took the gates wrong, I didn’t care about it and kept going and push it, get that edge in the snow. The second run was a little more intense because I felt the pressure after coming in first in the initial run. I got into a good mindset pretty quickly in the race,” said Tess Beasant after the race.

Spencer Allan, 18, of Airdrie, AB was the fastest amongst the group of men Para-Alpine Giant slalom race, winning the gold medal with a time of 2:00.66. 

“The first run was pretty solid; the conditions were pretty nice. The communication between me and my guide worked well. It was super smooth and placed first at the finish line. Leading up to the second run was a bit stressful. Communications went out and had no way of talking other than yelling. We just got right in the start gate and went down, really without any warning.  Some of the steeper sections were very icy, and got through it and came out in first. I am super happy!” said Allan, visually impaired skier.

Tomorrow, the slalom events will be featured at Nakiska, before the athletes returning to Red Deer for the ski cross events.

 

ALBERTA DOMINATION IN JUDO WITH SEVEN MEDALS

The judo competition began today at the 2019 Canada Games, and Alberta rose to the occasion, dominating the competition. All six judokas in action fought for medals today, with seven judokas earning gold medals.

In the 44KG category, Evelyn Beaton, 14, of Lethbridge won the gold medal, fighting Kimiko Kamstra of British Columbia. Beaton is the daughter of Head Coach Ewan Beaton, a two-time Olympian.

Ema Tesanovic, 16, of Calgary, AB won the gold medal in the women’s 48kg category, fighting against Klavdia Danilkov of British Columbia. “It was an amazing day. I worked hard in training to achieve this result in addition to competing at a lot of tournaments. I was pretty confident heading into the day,” said Tesanovic. 

Alberta had two judokas in the 52kg category, with Kondelia Karas of Edmonton, AB making it to the gold medal fight where she faced Sarah Maloum of Quebec.  In the gold medal fight, it’s Maloum who had the better day defeating Karas, who earns the silver medal. In the bronze medal match, Alberta’s Michelle Grisales of Grande Prairie, AB faced off against Manitoba’s Nina Zigic and managed to win the bronze medal for the double medal day for Alberta in the category.

In the men’s 50kg category, Douglas O'Brien, 17, of Rockyview County, AB went on to face Félix-Olivier Bertrand of Quebec. In the ultimate match won the silver medal.

Fighting in the 60kg category, Joel Demaere, 17, of Lethbridge, AB went on to face Quebec’s Arno Blacquière for the gold medal match. It took less than one minute for Demaere to apply the choke and force his opponent to abandon the match.

“It feels really good. That was my goal coming in, so its good to finally achieve that. I got to this point by training hard in Lethbridge. We have a great program there. I have been working a lot with my coaches and my teammates.

Finally, in the 66kg weight category, Nathan Demaere, 15, of Lethbridge, AB faced off against Ontario’s Erik Vandersanden in the gold medal showdown. In the final match, Nathan took home the silver medal.

 

TEAM ALBERTA EARNS THE SILVER MEDAL IN TRAMPOLINE MIXED EVENT

After earning two medals in the individual events on the first day of trampoline competition, Team Alberta was once more in action on Tuesday with the team competition. Each athlete performed their routine, and the best score of the men’s and women’s event combined for the team score.

Alberta’s Kalena Soehn and Zach Blakely, medallists in the individual events, combined for a total score of 105.425 points to secure the silver medal. Both Kalena and Zach are from Red Deer and competing in their home city.

The gymnasts will enjoy a rest day on Wednesday before competing in the last event, the synchronized event, on Thursday.

 

EXCITING CROSS COUNTRY SKIING SPRINTS TAKE PLACE

The Riverbend Golf and Country saw the sprint events of cross-country skiing taking place. All Team Alberta athlete moved on the final elimination races, the silver medalist Reed Godfrey of Canmore, AB posting the fastest qualifying time.

After the elimination rounds, only one Alberta skier remained standing for the women’s medal race. Issy (Isobel) Hendry crossed the finish line in fourth place, just over one second from the third place. The men final featured two Alberta skier, but Reed Godfrey got passed at the finish line in the few remaining meters in the sprint for the bronze medal. Godfrey finished fourth just 0.23 second off the bronze medal time. Samuel Hendry, Issy’s brother, finished fifth.

Tomorrow will feature the 10k mass start classic for the women and 15km mass start classic for the men.

 

MORE BADMINTON SUCCESSES FOR ALBERTA AT CANADA WINTER GAMES

Team Alberta is rocking the badminton courts at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre, with Imran Wadia, Kevin Lee and Yunzhi Chen all moving on to the semi-finals after successful quarterfinals in the morning.

The afternoon semi-finals saw Irman Wadia face off against Antonio Li. Li was the top player in that matchup, taking the win in two straight sets (21-19, 21-14).  The other semifinals featured Alberta teammates Kevin Lee facing Yunzi Chen, and ultimately it's Kevin Lee who went on to win the match in two sets (21-12, 23-21) to advance to the gold medal match.

Kevin Lee will face Li for the ultimate match tomorrow afternoon at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre, while Chen and Wadia will fight for bronze with two guaranteed medals for Alberta.

In the men’s doubles tournament, the duo of Austin Bauer and Kevin Lee defeated their opponents from Quebec in semifinals to advance to the gold medal match. In the semifinals, Team Alberta conceded the tightly contested first set (19-21) but bounce back taking the next two sets for the win (21-8, 21-15) and the chance to play for the gold medal.

Alberta’s men’s double team of Yunzhi Chen and Desmond Wang faced off against Ontario in the second semifinal and lost in three sets. Team Alberta opened up strong by winning the first set 21-12 but conceded the next two sets by the narrow score of 21-19.  The Chen/Desmond will play for Bronze against Quebec.

Alberta is also showing strongly in the mixed tournament, with two teams advancing to semi-finals.

The first semifinal saw Alberta’s Imran Wadia, and Takeisha Wang faced off against the duo from Quebec and won in two straight sets (22-20, 21-15).  The win sends the Alberta duo to the gold medal match.

In the second semi-finals, Alberta’s team of Kyleigh O'Donoghue and Austin Bauer competed against Ontario for the chance to play for the ultimate prize.  It took only two sets (21-15, 21-18) for the Alberta team to defeat their opponents.

It will be an Alberta-Alberta gold medal match in mixed double, guaranteeing two medals for the Team Alberta.

Alberta will play for medals in the men’s singles, men’s doubles, and mixed doubles throughout the day tomorrow.

 

TEAM ALBERTA REMAINS UNDEFEATED IN WOMEN’S CURLING AFTER FIVE MATCHES

Team Alberta, skipped by Julia Bakos of St. Albert, AB remains undefeated after five matches played. In the morning draw, Team Alberta faced off against Manitoba, a province renowned for its curling. Manitoba opened the scoring in the first end with a single point, answered by a double from Alberta. The third end was blanked with Manitoba retaining the hammer in the fourth end, scoring the single to tie the match at the halfway mark.

Alberta scored one point in the fifth and managed to steal a double in the sixth to take a 5-2 lead with two ends to play. Alberta managed to limit Manitoba offense and gave up single points in the seventh and eighth end for the 5-4 win.

In the evening draw, Alberta faced off against Prince Edward Island. In the first end, Team Alberta blanked retaining the hammer and utilized it to score two points to break the ice. Team PEI answered with a deuce of their own, but Alberta took no time to answer back with another double point.

PEI went on to even the score at four points with two singles with two ends to go. Alberta managed to add two points in the seventh end, forcing their opponents to score a minimum of two in the last end to force an extra end. And this is just what Team PEI did. With the hammer in hand, Alberta went on the offense and score two points for the 8-6 victory in extra ends.

Team Alberta is now undefeated with a 5-0 record heading into Wednesday when they will face New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

 

TEAM ALBERTA BOUNCES BACK IN MEN’S CURLING WITH TWO WINS

The men’s curling team representing Alberta bounced back this morning after a tough loss in yesterday’s draw against Newfoundland. The team led by Nathan Molberg faced off against Manitoba and pushed the match to extra end to take an exciting 6-5 win.

Having the hammer, Manitoba elected to blank the opening end and scored a single in the second end. Molberg answered with a double the following end to take a 2-1 lead. But Manitoba fought back with a double of their own to regain the 1-point lead.

Team Alberta scored a single in the fifth end and stole two points in the sixth end. Trailing 5-3 at the end of the sixth end, Manitoba curlers were pressured to fight back, and they did scoring two to tie the game at points apiece. The last end was blanked by Molberg, keeping the hammer for the extra end. And Molberg was successful in scoring that game-winning point in this very exciting match.

Moberg faced off against PEI in the evening draw. The Alberta skip started with force, scoring four points in the opening three ends. PEI answered in the fourth end with a double to narrow the Alberta lead to two points at the halfway mark.

Team Alberta came back on the attack to score two points in the fifth and steal two on the subsequent end to increase their lead at 8-2. PEI scored a deuce in the seventh to narrow the gap at 8-4 but opted to shake hands to end the match after the seventh end.

With a 4-1 record, Team Alberta will play New Brunswick in the morning draw and Nova Scotia in the evening draw.

 

TEAM ALBERTA FINISHES IN THE THIRD PLACE OF POOL IN WOMEN’S HOCKEY PRELIMINARIES

Team Alberta ended their preliminary tournament tonight, playing against Ontario. The two equal-strength teams played a solid hockey game throughout, fighting for pool seeding with the winner taking the second place.

The first goal of the game came into the 13th minute of the second period, in Ontario‘s favor. The game remained intense with scoring opportunities happening on either side of the rink.

The third period was as exciting as the first two periods with crisp passing, fast breakouts, controlled play by both teams. Unfortunately for the Alberta ladies, a shot from the blue line in the eighth minute was deflected and trickled into the back of the net, surprising the Alberta netminder for Ontario’s second goal.

Trailing by two goals, Alberta pulled their goaltender with three minutes left in the game to beef up the offense. A delay of game penalty later by an Ontario player, Team Alberta found the back of the net with 1:27 left in the third period, thanks to a well-placed wrist shot by Teghan Inglis.

Despite the late-game surge, Alberta ran out of time and couldn’t produce a second goal, conceded the 2-
1 victory to their opponents.

Both goaltenders were solid in front of the net, with Kayle Osborne of Ontario taking the victory. Ontario outshot Alberta 38-21.

Team Alberta finished in third place of the Pool B standings and will advance to the following round to face Manitoba Thursday at 4:00 pm at the Downtown Arena.

 

ABOUT THE ALBERTA SPORT CONNECTION

Alberta Sport Connection (ASC) coordinates Team Alberta’s involvement in the Games. It is a provincial crown corporation dedicated to the development of sport in Alberta.

ASC’s vision is for Alberta to be the premier sport delivery system in Canada.  It helps Alberta’s high-performance athletes train and pursue excellence. For more information on the Alberta Sport Connection visit www.albertasport.ca or follow @AlbertaSport on Twitter.

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