Canadian men outlast the Netherlands in volleyball Olympic qualification tournament opener
CBC
Canada's men's volleyball squad outlasted the Netherlands 3-2 in a five-set thriller on Saturday in Xi'an, China to start its Olympic qualification tournament campaign with a win.
The World No. 14 Canadians won the first set 25-21 before allowing the tenth-ranked Dutchmen to take control of the match with a 25-23 win in the second and a tight 26-24 victory in the third. Canada regained momentum to take the fourth frame 25-18 before clinching the tie-breaker at 15-12.
Toronto's Arthur Szwarc led the Canadians with 19 points, including two break points. Stephen Maar of Aurora, Ont. and Eric Loeppky of Steinbach, Man., added 18 and 17, respectively.
Canada edged the Dutch team in block points (13-5) and serve points (8-3). Captain Nimir Abdel-Aziz tallied 29 to lead the Netherlands.
WATCH l Canada tops Netherlands in China:
"It was a good victory, which is very important for the team and for confidence," said Canada's head coach Tuomas Sammelvuo in a statement. "But we are already focused on tomorrow and recovering for the [next] game."
Canada returns to the court to face Argentina on Saturday at 10.00 p.m. ET. The match will be streamed live on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
The two best-ranked teams in each of the three groups will qualify for Paris 2024. Teams are awarded points depending on the numbers of sets won and lost in a match, earning a total of five points in case of a 3-0 win — which leaves the loser of that match with no points to grab.
The Canadian women's volleyball team finished third in the same tournament this month and now need to retain a high-ranking position to secure one of the remaining Paris 2024 berths. That'll be decided in June.
Canada's men's volleyball team made the Olympic Games five times, recording its best finish in Los Angeles 1984 when they lost to Italy in the bronze medal match. The Canadian men were bounced in the quarterfinals in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021.
#20 Jordan Canham — Avonmore, Ont. #13 Samuel Cooper — Hamilton #97 Landon Currie — Coldstream, BC #6 Danny Demyanenko — Toronto #1 Pearson Eshenko — Banff, Alta. #2 Luke Herr — Winnipeg #4 Nicholas Hoag — Sherbrooke, Que. #5 Brodie Hofer — Langley, B.C. #80 Eric Loeppky — Steinbach, Man. #18 Justin Lui — Pickering, Ont. #7 Stephen Maar — Aurora, Ont. #16 Jordan Schnitzer — Surrey, B.C. #14 Arthur Szwarc — Toronto #12 Lucas Van Berkel — Edmonton #8 Brett Walsh — Calgary
WATCH l Full event replay: Canada vs. Netherlands:
Canada's Kevin Drury battled his way to a gold medal that left him in tears at a World Cup ski cross event on Friday in Val Thorens, France.
Soccer fans have accused FIFA of a "monumental betrayal" after latest prices for World Cup tickets began to circulate on Thursday.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is “disappointed” that the main arena slated to host ice hockey at February’s Olympics isn’t yet completed with less than two months to go before the Games are scheduled to be played.
A two-year suspension from competitive swimming has forced Penny Oleksiak to answer questions about drug use, train by herself in public pools and defend her legacy as Canada’s most decorated female Olympian.
Hockey, one of the premier events at the Winter Olympics and one that is welcoming NHL players back for the first time in more than a decade, will take place on ice shorter than NHL-regulation size.
Summer McIntosh capped swimming’s U.S. Open with the event record in the women’s 200-metre butterfly on Saturday in Austin, Texas.
Some bronze medals are worth their weight in gold. Valerie Grenier's third-place finish in women's giant slalom at the Mont-Tremblant World Cup certainly fits that category.
The men’s World Cup draw in Washington D.C. was going well for Canada until Pot 4.
The draw for the 2026 World Cup takes place Friday at 12 p.m. ET at the Kennedy Center in Washington, for the purpose of dividing the 48-team field into 12 groups of four. Once the tournament starts, 32 teams will advance from those preliminary groups to the single-elimination knockout rounds.
The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., buzzed with activity and speculation on Thursday in advance of Friday’s all-important draw for the 2026 men’s World Cup.
By the time the management group for the Canadian men’s national hockey team emerges from marathon meetings on Tuesday, as much as 80 per cent of the roster going to Italy next February should be written in pen.
Canada’s ski mountaineering athletes have their Olympic dreams on the line this weekend at a World Cup event in Solitude, Utah.
Goalie Carter Hart, one of five 2018 Canada world junior hockey players acquitted of sexual assault in July, will make his first NHL appearance in nearly two years when he starts in goal Tuesday night for the Vegas Golden Knights, who host Chicago.