Isaiah Elleze and Kaleb Sabourin have become the first NWT doubles pair to defeat a provincial team at the national championships of table tennis, team staff say.
Team NT sent seven athletes to last weekend’s Canadian Championships at the Richmond Olympic Oval in British Columbia.
For four of the seven, including Elleze and Sabourin, it was their first time competing at the national level.
The duo posted their comeback win in a U15 doubles match against Manitoba after finding themselves down 0-2.
“I told the boys after they lost the first two games, don’t panic too much. Stay focused,” said coach Neilson Vandell.
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“After the third game, they won. They were more focused. I could see that the momentum had switched.
“It was quite wonderful to see, even as a coach. It was a good experience.”
Vandell told Cabin Radio Team NT had never won a doubles tie at a national championship before. He said this is “a really huge win for the Northwest Territories.”
“There’s a lot of different provinces across Canada that have much higher experience than the Northwest Territories,” said Vandell. “It shows that even in the smaller communities, it doesn’t matter.”
Vandell said Team NT’s athletes will use their experience at the 2025 Canadian Championships to learn and improve.
“We can train harder and make that effort into making our players improve for next year,” said Vandell, “so we can prepare and compete at the other provinces’ level.”
