The table tennis event concluded on Friday, February 24 at PEI Convention Centre at the 2023 Canada Games, which take place from February 18 to March 5 in Prince Edward Island. Table tennis is part of the first week of the 2023 Canada Games. It was with the long-awaited singles event that the competition ended. Quebec and Ontario shared the titles, with Quebec taking the boys’ title and Ontario winning the girls’ title. It is noted that the 2 finals opposed table tennis players from the same province.
Jessie Xu, (1st seed) won 3-0 over her compatriot Demi Cai ranked 2nd in the tournament. A great achievement for her as it was her fourth medal, including 3 gold and one silver for the player from Oakville, Ontario. The only gold medal that eluded her at these Games is mixed doubles (silver with Kevin Guo). The 3rd position went to Sofia Li (7th seed) from British Columbia who caused the surprise by climbing up to the match for the 3rd position. The British Columbian narrowly won in a tight match over Alice Provencher (3rd seed) from Quebec. The two players played a spectacular match for the large crowd that came to cheer. In the end, Li won in 5 tight sets with a score of 12-10 in the last set.
The male final opposed 2 players from Quebec who was also the 2 favorites of the tournament. Finally, Siméon Martin won over Joakim Desmeules in 4 fiercely contested rounds. Desmeules started the match very strong, attacking every ball of his opponent, which allowed him to win the first set 11-6. Martin had to step up his game in the next 3 sets to win the match 12-10, 13-11, 11-4. After the match, Martin told us that he stayed confident despite the strong start of Desmeules. Martin, calm and in control as usual, explains that “It’s not over until all 3 rounds are over”. Wise words. Martin concluded his 2023 Canada Games in a brilliant way after winning gold in all the events in which he participated: male single, mixed doubles (Alice Provencher), male doubles (Joakim Desmeules) as well as the male team event (Joakim Desmeules).
The bronze medal match was between Jordan Grewal and Kevin Guo, both of Ontario. It was a victory in 3 sets for Guo. Thus, he added this bronze medal to the 3 silver medals won previously at the Games.
See you all at the 2027 Canada Winter Games!
