By Martin Cleary
If you’re old enough to remember, the Three Stooges provided a unique style of comedy on television, film and in-person back in the 1950s and 1960s.
Well, the Stooges are back, but don’t expect to see Curly, Larry and Moe assuming new roles in a serious sporting situation.
The Stooges of today wear basketball uniforms, are fit and talented athletes between the ages of 55 and 70 and know how to win games – and even an unprecedented gold medal – against unknown international competition.
Canada sent three teams to the 17th World Maxibasketball Championships in the Ticino region of Switzerland. All three went by the name Stooges.
The Three Stooges’ hallmark brand of slapstick and physical comedy was replaced by pressure man-to-man defence, accurate shooting and plenty of teamwork at least for the men’s 60-64 squad.
Four Ottawa players were spread out over the three masters teams and they played important roles as the Stooges were involved in five or six full-length games over nine days.
Chris Biegler was one of the key players for the men’s 60-64 Stooges, who captured six straight preliminary and playoff games to win their division’s gold medal, which was a first for any Canadian team.
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The Stooges’ 55-59 and 65-69 teams won the majority of their games and reached the quarterfinals in their brackets.
The world championships attracted more than 6,000 players, coaches and staff to form 400 teams in five-year age brackets (35-80) from 40 countries. The games were played in 26 different gyms.
In the men’s 60-64 gold-medal game, Canada had its toughest test at the most crucial time, but rallied from a small first-quarter deficit to overcome Serbia 67-63.
Biegler, who led the Canadian team with 26 points, was proud and relieved all at once.
“It was pride as being the first and a sense of relief as we played six games in nine days,” wrote Biegler in an email interview, when asked to describe his reaction to being a world champion.
Serbia led after the first quarter 18-15, but Canada rebounded to win the second quarter 17-11 and earn a 32-29 halftime lead. Canada outscored Serbia in the final two quarters 18-12 and 17-12.
Biegler finished the six-game championship averaging 15.3 points a game, while teammate Kevin St. Kitts led the team at 15.8 points per game.
Hamilton’s Terry Garrow, a former star for the St. Pius X High School X-Men, averaged 5.1 points for his six games.
The road to the final was made clear with a 59-48 semifinal win over Slovenia, a 66-55 quarter-final victory against Italy (FIMBA Italia) and a 78-44 round-of-16 decision over Germany A.
Canada opened strong, winning its two preliminary pool games to qualify for the elimination playoffs – defeating Germany (Nationals) 57-43 and Brazil A 83-58.
“We played really well as a team, managing the ebb and flows of every game and our relentless man-to-man defence wore other teams down,” added the six-foot, seven-inch Biegler, who was the 1986-87 CIAU men’s player of the year, when he attended the University of Regina.
“This was a total team effort and depending on the game and matchups different players stepped up. We had (no expectations) as you have no idea how good the teams are that you will be playing. We just knew that we had to win our two pool games to advance to the playoffs.”
Four players on the team had played together previously at the 2019 worlds in Finland.
The more Canada won, the more games it played, but Biegler said there was a strategy for going the distance.
“We played six games and we managed it by having a roster of 11 solid players, taking advantage of our days off and enjoying our time in Lugano, Switzerland,” he continued.
In the men’s 65-69 age group, the Canada Stooges finished with a 5-1 record, but were eliminated from medal contention after a 65-48 loss to the United States in the quarterfinals.
The Stooges posted wins over Italy (Over Sport) 60-31, United Kingdom (FIMBA GB Sapphires) 62-43, Peru 67-26, Austria (Austrian Seniors Basketball) 68-22 and Brazil B 69-61.
Henk Dykhuizen of Ottawa averaged 17.2 minutes of floor time in each of his five games and 1.2 points a game.
Ottawa-born Kory Hallas of Almonte, ON, averaged 10.5 points in his two games in the men’s 55-59 division, where the Canada Stooges won three of their five games.
After winning its pool by turning back Italy B (Golden Players Italia) 59-43 and Germany C 79-39, the Stooges defeated Spain (Catalonia MVPS) 75-25, but fell 94-61 to Brazil A in the quarterfinals and 74-51 to Mexico C in a classification game.
BASKETBALL BRONZE FOR SYLA SWORDS, MERISSAH RUSSELL
Teenager Syla Swords scored the decisive basket on a layup with 1.4 seconds remaining in double overtime to give Canada a 76-75 win over Argentina to win the bronze medal at the AmeriCup women’s basketball championship in Santiago, Chile.
Swords, whose father Shawn is from Ottawa and a coach in the NBA G League with the Long Island Nets, finished with a game-high 23 points.
In its semifinal, Canada lost 65-53 to the United States, which eventually won the gold medal 92-84 over Brazil and a berth in the 2026 Women’s Basketball World Cup. Canada led by two points after the first quarter, 14-12, and at halftime, 33-31. The U.S. outscored Canada in the final two quarters 20-15 and 14-5.
Canada must play in a qualifying tournament in March to advance to the World Cup.
In her seven tournament games, Swords, 19, averaged 9.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists, while Ottawa’s Merissah Russell averaged 4.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.7 assists.
ADRIEL NYORHA HELPS CANADA PLACE 5TH AT U19 WORLD CUP BASKETBALL
Canada won its final two classification games to finish fifth overall at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup in Lausanne, Switzerland.
After losing a tight quarterfinal 108-102 to the United States, Canada turned back Switzerland 93-61 and Australia 75-72 to earn the fifth-place ranking.
Ottawa’s Adriel Nyorha was a starter for Canada and averaged 19:50 minutes of floor time, 8.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists a game. He is a graduate of the Canada Topflight Academy program.
In the quarterfinals against the U.S., Nyorha posted 15 points, six rebounds and six assists for 22:04 minutes of playing time.
ONTARIO SENIOR LITTLE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP REACHES SEMIS
Two Ottawa teams have qualified for the Ontario Little League senior baseball championship semifinals at Heritage Park.
The Upper Ottawa Valley River Cats are scheduled to play the East Nepean Eagles Wednesday at 11 a.m. and the host Orleans Red Sox are slated to meet the Oakville Whitecaps at 2 p.m.
The River Cats and the Red Sox finished with identical 4-1 records after round-robin play. The Upper Ottawa Valley team was awarded first place based on its 7-5 win over Orleans in the opening game of the championship.
Oakville was third at 3-2, while East Nepean took fourth at 2-3.
CANADA DEFEATS SOUTH AFRICA IN WOMEN’S RUGBY
Canada ran past host South Africa in the first of their two rugby exhibition games in preparation for the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup in England.
Six players accounted for eight tries as Canada defeated South Africa 50-20 in Pretoria. Pamphinette Buisa of Gatineau was on the Canadian roster. Canada and South Africa will meet again on Saturday in Gqeberha.
The Canadian men’s rugby team is preparing for a pair of exhibition games in Edmonton on Saturday against Belgium and July 18 against Spain. Ottawa’s Jamie Armstrong of the University of Ottawa is on the 33-player Canadian roster.
At the University of Guelph, Rugby Canada recently staged a U18 summer development and talent identification camp for 87 players. The top players will advance to the national men’s U20 team.
The list of players included Aidan McGuire, Aton Biakabutuka and Jackson Landon, all of Ottawa and from the Bytown Blues Rugby Football Club, and Ryder Sim of Ottawa and the Ottawa Ospreys.
OTTAWA HUNT HOLDS OFF ROYAL OTTAWA FOR CLASS A INTERSECTIONAL TITLE
Ben Bell and Chris Bockstael scored the maximum six points as the final two golfers for the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club to give the defending champions a victory in the men’s A class at the Ottawa Valley Golf Association intersectional competition.
Sixteen clubs throughout the OVGA played host to 10-man teams from four or three clubs to determine class champions. The winner in each division from B through P will move up a class in 2026, while the bottom club from A through O will drop one grouping.
The Hunt received six-point performances from six of its golfers and scored an unmatched 49 points, while Royal Ottawa was second at 37 points, Rideau View took third at 23 points and Carleton finished with 11 points.
After the first eight groups had finished, the Hunt had a narrow 37-34 advantage over Royal Ottawa. But when Bell and Bockstael won their individual matches against their three opponents to earn six points each, and the Royal Ottawa’s James Newton and Romi Dilawri scored zero and three points respectively, the Hunt pulled away to retain its class A title.
The other class champions were: B – Camelot, C – Pembroke, D – Prescott, E – Algonquin, F – Mississippi, G – Stittsville, H – Pakenham (won a tiebreaker over Madawaska), I – Casselview, J – Glengarry, K – Gatineau, L – Stonebridge, M – Oaks of Cobden, N – The Homestead at Wolf Ridge, O – Lombard Glen, and P – Edgewood.
In the class O matches, Lombard Glen came within two points of achieving a rare maximum team score.
Since there was only three clubs in the O division at Lombard Glen, the individual maximum score was only four points. If there were four clubs, a golfer could score a maximum of six points by earning two points for scoring better than each of his three opponents.
Nine of the 10 members of the Lombard Glen team won their matches outright for the top score of four each. The other golfer scored two points. Lombard Glen finished with 38 points out of a maximum 40.
AVERY NORDMAN EYES ANOTHER PROVINCIAL TITLE
Avery Nordman of the Canadian Golf and Country Club was tied for third place Tuesday at the midpoint of the 72-hole Ontario girls’ junior golf championship at the Loyalist Golf and Country Club.
Nordman, a Team Ontario member who won the provincial women’s match-play title last month, carded the lowest score of the second round at four-under-par 68 to move into a tie for third place at one-under 143. She shot 75 in her opening round Monday.
Nordman was the Ontario girls’ U17 champion in 2024.
Ceilidh Spare of Rideau View is sixth at 74-73 for a three-over 147, Sophie Foulds of Royal Ottawa sits 10th at 75-74-149 and Team Ontario player Amelia McFarlane of the Ottawa Hunt is tied for 18th at 78-75-153.
At the weekend’s NextGen Quebec Championship at the Rideau View, McFarlane placed second overall with a four-over 220 from rounds of 74-72-74.
Foulds was fifth at 77-72-74-223, while Spare was tied for ninth at 84-74-73-231 with Rivermead’s Shinyao Zhang at 77-75-79-231.
At the Ontario boys’ junior golf championship at the Lindsay Golf and Country Club, three Royal Ottawa Golf Club athletes lead the pack from the Ottawa Valley Golf Association contingent.
Rowan MacDonald is deadlocked in 10th, after an opening-round two-under 70 on Tuesday, while Michael Vivone is tied for 13th at one-under 71 and Team Ontario player Chase Jerome shares 30th at one-over 73.
Vivone prepared for the provincials by finishing tied for fourth at the NextGen Quebec Championships with a five-under 211 from scores of 73-68-70.
OWEN DANSEREAU DOUBLE BRONZE WINNER AT DIVING NATIONALS
Nepean-Ottawa Diving Club’s Owen Dansereau won a pair of bronze medals at the Junior Development National Diving Championships in Winnipeg.
Dansereau placed third in the boys’ C three-metre springboard and the platform event. He also was fifth on the one-metre board.
Gatineau’s Polina Mikriukova came close three times to the medals, but finished fourth in the girls’ C platform and fifth in both the one- and three-metre springboards.
LAST, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST
· Livia Martin of Manotick has been named to the Canadian team for the junior jumping competition at the North American Youth Championships in Traverse City, Michigan. She will compete against rider-horse combinations from the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean.
· Israel-Premier Tech’s Michael Woods of Ottawa expected to be well back of the pack in the early stages of his fifth Tour de France and he is – 167th, 94th, 143rd and 94th for the first four stages. But Woods projected he’ll start to challenge for stage wins later this week in the three-week marathon as the tour presents rides with challenging mountain climbs.
· Nepean-Ottawa Diving Club’s Kate Miller will compete in the women’s 10-metre and women’s 10-metre synchro events at the World Aquatics Championships, which begin Friday and run through Aug. 3 in Singapore.
· Skate Canada has named Katherine Medland Spence of Ottawa to its 2025-26 national team. Medland Spence, 24, practises at the Richmond Training Centre with coaches Ken Rose and Danielle Rose.
· The Canada Day Road Race winners were: 10-kilometre – Martin Harding, 34 minutes, 20 seconds; and Meghan Foottit, 38:26; 5-kilometre – Charlie Mortimer, 15:28; and Nadine Frost Corinaldi, 19:05; 1-kilometre – Jeremy Lincoln, 3:36; and Isla Tetzlaff, 4:05.
Martin Cleary has written about amateur sports for over 52 years. A past Canadian sportswriter of the year and Ottawa Sports Awards Lifetime Achievement in Sport Media honouree, Martin retired from full-time work at the Ottawa Citizen in 2012, but continued to write a bi-weekly “High Achievers” column for the Citizen/Sun.
When the pandemic struck, Martin created the High Achievers “Stay-Safe Edition” to provide some positive news during tough times, via his Twitter account at first and now here at OttawaSportsPages.ca.
Martin can be reached by e-mail at martincleary51@gmail.com and on Twitter @martincleary.