Quebec earns Canada Games gold medal with 4-3 win against British Colombia

The stage was set for the gold medal tie of the 2022 Canada Games between Quebec and British Colombia at Niagara-on-the-Lake Tennis Club. The final did not miss to entertain, as the two teams offered some phenomenal tennis. Mélodie Collard, who did not lose a match all week, set the tone again for Quebec with a solid win in straight sets over the powerful Leena Bennetto of British Colombia.

At men’s singles 2 position, fans were treated to an entertaining three sets match between Qing Xu Kuang of Qubec and Denny Bao of British Colombia. In what truly was a roller coaster of emotions, Kuang finally bested his opponent in the third set tie-break to extend Quebec’s lead to 2-0. Maxime St-Hilaire then followed in his teammates’ footsteps with a straight set victory of his own against Aram Noroozian, bringing Quebec on the brink of grabbing the gold medal with an overall score of 3-0.

However, British Colombia had not said its last word. Reece Carter (BC) showed a lot of grit and resiliency, as she made an impressive comeback against a very talented Annabelle Xu, ranked #21 in the junior world rankings. Carter won the match 5-7 6-4 6-3.

And British Colombia was only getting started, carrying its momentum into the doubles matches. The pair of Cau and Dong (BC) bested Naomi Xu and Usereau in three sets. Ren and Church (BC) took care of business against You and Koua in three sets as well, evening the score at 3-3 between Quebec and British Colombia.

It all came down to the mixed doubles match to determine the winner of the 2022 Canada Games gold Medal. The Quebec pair of Mélodie Collard and Maxime St-Hilaire was opposed to Reece Carter and Aram Noroozian of British Colombia in what was a fantastic thriller. Noroozian and Carter captured the first set 7-5, but Collard and St-Hilaire bounced right back by winning the second set 6-3 after trailing 3-0 in that set. In the deciding 10-point tiebreaker, Quebec took a commanding lead and never looked back, clinching the gold medal 10-4.

Completing the podium is Team Ontario, who bested Team Alberta by the score of 5-1 for the bronze medal. This concludes a phenomenal week of tennis, which produced a wave of emotions for the players, coaches as well as for the fans who attended.

Match Results:

• MS1: Maxime St-Hilaire (QC) vs Aram Noroozian (BC): 6-1 6-3
• MS2: Qing Xu Kuang (QC) vs Denny Bao (BC): 6-3 3-6 7-6(2)
• WS1: Annabelle Xu (QC) vs Reece Carter (BC) : 7-5 4-6 3-6
• WS2: Mélodie Collard (QC) vs Leena Bennetto (BC) : 7-6(2) 6-1
• MD: You/Koua (QC) vs Church/Ren (BC): 1-6 6-0 3-6
• WD: Usereau/N.Xu (QC) vs Cau/Dong (BC) : 6-4 2-6 0-6
• XD: St-Hilaire/Collard (QC) vs Noroozian/Carter (BC): 5-7 6-3 10-4

FINAL RANKING: