Strong third day at Flag Worlds sets up Canada for Sunday medal push

Women and men sit first and third in their respective pools

Canada’s women’s national team remain unbeaten following round-robin play with a 5-0 record after defeating Japan, 43-25, and Guatemala, 41-6, on day three at the 2016 IFAF Flag Football World Championships in Miami. Canada’s men’s national team split their two games on Saturday, finishing with a solid 4-2 record.  The men opened the day with a 41-6 win over Guatemala, but were edged by undefeated Denmark, 35-27 in their final round-robin game.

Canada’s schedule, results, rosters

Sunday’s final day of action will culminate with women’s and men’s gold medal games at 5 and 6:30 p.m. respectively.

Canada, the defending women’s champions, will open Sunday’s playoff draw against Brazil, the fourth place finisher in the opposing pool, at 9 a.m.

Canada’s men begin Sunday with a crossover game against Austria (4-1), the second-seeded team in the opposing pool. Canada hopes to find the podium for the first time since 2008 after falling to Italy in the bronze medal game in 2010 and 2014.

Sunday’s quarterfinals, semifinals as well as medal games broadcast live on Sports Radio America, http://www.sportsradioamerica.com/.

Women continue strong play on day three in pursuit of repeat

After facing tough matchups against Panama and the USA on Friday, Canada’s pair of wins on Saturday secured the defending women’s champions the top position in their pool. The advantage pairs them with 1-3 Brazil in their quarterfinals matchup.

Led by a core group of players that have been together since 2008, François Bougie’s Canadian squad hopes to capture their third gold medal after doing so in both 2010 and 2014.

Mexico sits atop the opposing pool with a 4-0 record and could be Canada’s toughest test on championship Sunday. Panama (4-1) is another team to keep an eye on as they provided Canada with their most difficult game during round-robin play.

Playoff schedule – Sunday September 11, 2016 (all times local [ET], subject to change)

Men settle for third in pool after tough loss to Denmark

Following an early Chris Friesen pick-six that opened the scoring, Canada cruised to an easy 41-6 victory over Guatemala. Quarterback Chase Bradshaw threw six touchdown passes in the winning effort, including three to receiver Kit Hillis.

To close out round-robin play, Canada’s men’s national team faced a pivotal showdown against Denmark who needed a win to clinch first in group A. After Denmark drew first blood, Canada clawed back as the teams went into the half tied at 21. Denmark pulled ahead in the second half of play to seal an eight-point victory, earning them first place in their pool ahead of 5-1 and defending silver medalist, Mexico. Defending men’s gold medalist, USA (5-0) sits atop the other pool with an undefeated record, ahead of Austria (4-1) and Panama (3-2).

Austria, Canada’s first opponent on Sunday, is a previous world champion having defeated the U.S. in 2012 to capture gold. They also won the first two world championship titles back-to-back in 2002 and 2004.

Playoff schedule – Sunday September 11, 2016 (all times local [ET], subject to change)

This post is also available in: French