A pair of medals for Ario Nishimuro led the Richmond contingent of athletes who competed at the Canada Winter Games in Prince George.
The 16-year-old Steveston Judo Club member won silver, competing in the up to 73 kg class. He then helped B.C. win bronze in the team competition.
Nishimuro’s run to the podium included wins over Manitoba’s Briton Lewis and Dawson Mandel of Alberta before falling to Ontario’s Brad Langlois in the gold medal match.
Meanwhile, Richmond’s first family of squash produced a pair of medals for Team B.C.
Andrea Toth, who is just 14, won silver in the team competition on Saturday.
Her older brother Matthew Toth, 17, won a surprise bronze in the men’s singles competition. Both learned the game under longtime coach Shakiru Matti who runs a squash academy out of Sport Central. Their older sister Alex is currently playing at Princeton University.
Matthew ended up squaring off against fellow Team BC player Gavin Maxwell in the bronze medal match and edged Victoria native 3-2 (14-12, 8-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-4).
“It was really weird to be playing against my teammate,” said Matthew. “It made it hard because we really like each other and I think at the beginning of the match we started out slow but then part way in we both realized there was a bronze medal on the line and it got pretty intense.
“It was a really close match and I was lucky to squeak it out. He is really fast and when I hit a lot of fast shots he reacts really well to it so I tried to keep my shots tight against the wall so he couldn’t attack me.”
Toth was not seeded in the top three, which makes the bronze medal especially sweet.
“It was an amazing feeling,” he said. “As soon as we were done we went right into the medal ceremony – I didn’t even have time to cool down – and I don’t think it sunk in until they put the medal around my neck.”
It was a memorable day for B.C. as Surrey’s Michele Garceau won gold in the women’s competition, marking the first time the province had captured medals in individual squash play at the Canada Games.
In badminton, Duncan Yao teamed up with Joshua Liu to win bronze in in men’s doubles.
The team came into the final match with a strategy. After a disappointing loss in the semi-finals on Tuesday, Yao and Liu were determined to keep their composure and play together. They edged Manitoba 3-2.
“We hit the reset button after our semi-final, said Yao, 19. “We played well and stuck to our plan. We were down before the interval of each of the games but caught up and got the wins we needed.”
Other medals for local athletes included Mathew Lai winning gold in Special Olympics Level 2 figure skating.
In total, B.C. athletes won 88 medals over the two week competition.
