Canada bags Gold at World Cup U19

Cairo, Egypt – Canada burst onto the basketball stage with a bang, claiming gold at the World Cup U19 and now the World is taking notice. This is the first ever U19 title for the Canadian squad so this win is extra sweet. It was not an easy road to the top. They defeated France in the Quarterfinals then the ever-dangerous team USA in the semifinals. Finally, over the weekend a game for pride and glory meant facing off against a formidable Italian team in the finals. At the conclusion of a great game of basketball, Canada prevailed over Italy, 79-60.

“You’re on top of that podium and you know you’ve won it all,” said coach Roy Rana in a conference call from Cairo. “It hasn’t happened before and I think some of us just didn’t even know what to make of it. It’s always beautiful to hear our anthem and to hear it in this context is so special.”

Canada leaned on an amazing performance by 17-year-old Rowan “R.J.” Barrett, who exploded for 18 points and 12 rebounds. His athelticism and strong play allowed him to out-muscle his Italian counterparts and was virtually unstoppable. He represents a fresh crop of emerging basketball stars coming out of Canada. 2014 first-overall pick in the NBA Draft, Andrew Wiggins, has already been growing by leaps in bounds in his young NBA career.

“What I was really impressed with is just who he is as a young man,” said Rana. “His character shone through throughout the whole summer, right from Day 1 of training camp. He’s another one of our stars that just demonstrates humility, appreciation of everything he gets. He’s not entitled, he’s just willing to do all of the little things that everyone else does, just a part of the team.

Congratulations are in order for this hard working Canadian team. They are the future; an encouraging sign that Canada will stay relevant and a respectable threat in the global basketball scene for years to come.