THE WOMEN'S TEAM QUEST ENDS

Good afternoon all.

It is now Saturday afternoon 5:00 pm here in Beijing.

Your Women's Team saw its goal of qualifying for the
Knockout Round of 16 come to an early end yesterday
when the team was defeated by the Phillipines in its
first match of the day. That loss put to an end our hopes
of moving on. The team finished with a win vs Serbia
and a concluding loss to Australia.
As Non Playing Captain my realistic goal for the team
was qualification to the Knockout Rounds, and I have
no doubt that each member of the team had similar
aspirations. So it comes as a great disappointment to
all of us to fall short of that goal. But, on the positive
side it has been a great experience for everyone on the
team and I have no doubt that as players every team
member has gained valuable international experience.

So congratulation to Susan Culham, Kismet Fung,
Pascale Gaudreault, Martine Lacroix, Karen Cumpstone
and Pamela Nisbet who played so hard and represented
Canada so well!

The Canadian Open Team suffered an even more crushing
denouement as they saw the final qualification spot slip
out of their grasp in their final match yesterday. It takes
at least a little while to recoup after having a spot in the
top four and then losing that spot by so little.
Congratultions to Marc Andre, Vince, Kamel, Nick, Dan
and Robert. We all shared your run with pride and shared
your disappointment in the final boards yesterday.

Canada's hopes now remain with our Senior Team and our
under 26 Junior Team. We wish them well as they advance.
Well done.

I will continue to report from Beijing on the Transnational
Teams, your Canadian players and the City of Beijing.

Have a great weekend everyone.

John