Mathieu Belanger / Team Canada

NAPLES, Italy (U SPORTS) – Preliminary action for Team Canada got underway on three fronts Tuesday at the 30th Summer Universiade in southern Italy.

Schedule & Results

FISU.TV (Semifinals and finals only)

With the Opening Ceremony still a day away, the Canadian divers along with women’s water polo and soccer kickstarted preliminary action across the Campania region anchored by the host city of Naples.

The Opening Ceremony from Stadio San Paolo in Naples goes Wednesday at 3 p.m. EDT / 12 p.m. PDT (9 p.m. local), with live streaming coverage on FISU.tv. Kadre Gray of men’s basketball will carry the Maple Leaf, leading the Canadian delegation into the event.

Diving

At Naples, Elaena Dick qualified first overall in the women’s 10m platform following a stellar performance in the semifinal round. The University of Toronto kinesiology student registered an overall score of 291.00 points, 1.10 points ahead of South Korea’s Nayun Moon. The finals are set for Thursday, July 4 at 9 a.m. EDT / 6 a.m. PDT (3 p.m. local) and will be streamed live on FISU.tv.

In the men’s 1 m springboard, Peter Mai finished 20th in the preliminary round with a final score of 271.20.  The College d’Ahuntsic student from Montreal recorded a top score of 63.00 on his sixth and final attempt. He will compete in the 3m springboard event tomorrow (July 3).

Results

Men’s 1 m springboard (qualifying)

Women’s 10 m platform (qualifying)

Water Polo (W)

At Casoria, the Canadian women opened their Universiade with a stirring come-from-behind performance. Trailing Japan by 10-9 heading into the fourth quarter, Canada scored three in the final period to win 12-10. Daphné Guèvremont tallied two of her three goals in the fourth, while goalie Rachael Jaffe made 13 saves to keep the Canadians within striking distance.

“Our offence definitely lacked a little but then we brought it back and I think it was just energy, pure energy,” said Jaffe. “We just had a really good team morale and really, really, really wanted it.”

Canada’s next action sees them play France Friday in the first of three games on consecutive days to round out the preliminary round.

Box Score

Soccer (W)

At Cercola, Canada opened the scoring in the match’s early stages but was unable to generate much offence from there, falling 4-1 to DPR Korea at Stadio Comunale Arena.

Team Canada faced a quick and technical team that scored three goals in the first half, including two in the dying minutes of the period. Laval University’s Jessica Bunker was the lone scorer for the Canadians.

“North Korea has a fantastic team, they have clearly been together longer than we have”, said Canada’s head coach Peyvand Mossavat. “I’m proud of the girl because first of all, we scored early, and we did small errors on their goals but we got better in the second half.”

Canada will look to bounce back against South Africa on Saturday in their final preliminary fixture, with a spot in the quarter-finals on the line.

Box Score