Rugby star back on pitch after cougar bite
Canada rugby sevens captain Olivia Apps is back with the team after being treated for a cougar bite in a B.C. provincial park.
Rugby Canada confirmed the attack and said the 25-year-old from Lindsay, Ont., “was treated in hospital shortly after for a minor injury and was able to return to training with the national team immediately following the incident.”
The Victoria Times-colonist reported Apps was bitten last weekend while hiking with another person on Elk River Trail in Strathcona Provincial Park. One of their two dogs was also attacked by the cougar, which ran off when bear-sprayed.
The women and their dogs were taken out of the park by helicopter, the Times-colonist said.
The B.C. Conservation Officer Service concluded its investigation, determining that the incident was a defensive attack and no further action will be taken. British Columbia’s Environment Ministry confirmed that signage indicating cougar sightings and activity had been posted in the area.
Apps, who also plays scrum half for the Canadian 15s side, is back training with the sevens team at its home base of Langford, B.C., for the Paris Olympics.
Canada’s Bianca Andreescu continued her
comeback from injury with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3) win over former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka of Japan in quarterfinal action Friday at the Libema Open.
Andreescu held on for the win after missing her first chance to close out Osaka when serving for the match leading 5-3 in the third set.
An Osaka break and hold tied the set at 5-5, then both players exchanged holds to set up the deciding tiebreaker.
Andreescu will face Hungary’s Dalma Galfi in the semifinals.
The 23-year-old Andreescu from Mississauga, Ont., is playing in her second tournament since missing nearly 10 months with a back injury.
In men’s quarterfinal action, top seed Alex De Minaur of Australia defeated Canadian veteran Milos Raonic 7-5, 6-2.
The Canadian women’s volleyball team
had its Olympic dreams all but ended Friday with a 3-0 loss to the Netherlands in Volleyball Nations League action.
Set scores were 26-24, 25-16 and 25-23 as the Dutch opened a 22.47point gap over Canada in world rankings points with just one game remaining in the Paris Olympics qualification window for each team.
Calgary’s Alexa Gray and Kiera Van Ryk of Surrey, B.C., each had a match-high 17 points, but Canada committed 24 errors to seven for the Netherlands.
Canada, which has not qualified for the Olympics since 1996, next plays 19thranked France on Saturday, while the Netherlands takes on No. 34 South Korea on Sunday.
Canada would need to take maximum rankings points from the French and hope the Koreans post a 3-0 victory over the Dutch to have any chance of moving on.