Chilliwack’s Ben Hagkull is going to Brazil to represent Canada at the 2022 Americas Cup. The wheelchair basketball tournament takes place July 13-18 in São Paulo, with Hagkull’s Canadian crew placed in Group B against Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. Group A includes Colombia, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and the United States.
Hagkull was selected for Canada’s 12-man senior roster after impressing at a training camp held all last week in Toronto. He and Bo Hedges are the B.C. representatives, with Hedges hailing from Wonowon. The rest of the roster includes Blaise Mutware (Toront0), Chad Jassman (Calgary), Colin Higgins (Rothesay, NB), Garrett Ostepchuk (Regina), Jesse Heubner (Kitchener, ON), Lee Melymick (Toronto), Nik Goncin (Regina), Reed De’Aeth (Sherwood Park, AB), Tyler Miller (Kitchener, ON) and Vincent Dallaire (Quebec City).
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Playing time might be hard to come by for Hagkull. The team includes nine returning athletes that were part of the eighth-place team at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
“Our team has been hard at work preparing for the qualifier,” said head coach Matteo Feriani. “With some new faces in the mix for Brazil, we are continuing to build chemistry within the group. I am confident in this team’s ability to qualify for Worlds.”
The Americas Cup is a qualifier for the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) World Championships taking place Nov. 16-17, 2022 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The top four men’s teams will move on to that tournament.
For more on the Americas Cup, see iwbf.org/event/2022-americas-cup/