Canada’s defending Montreal gold medalists and Olympic silver medalists Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson (both of Toronto, ON) thrilled the home audience in Montreal, beating Mila Konink and Raïsa Schoon of Netherlands 2-0 (21-12, 23-21) under the lights at centre court.

"I think we trusted our game plan and we trusted our team," said Humana-Paredes after the Thursday evening match. "We knew what we needed to do and once that came together it was our win…. I was really proud of how we stood up and how Brandie played (including six points from blocks). I know I’ll feel a lot better tomorrow and I’m excited for the rest of tournament."

Local favourite Marie-Alex Bélanger of Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez, QC, and Lea Monkhouse of Mississauga, ON, lost to Klinger D./Klinger R. of Austria 2-0 (21-12, 21-14), and then put on a valiant fight against Swiss veterans of the tour Anouk Vergé-Dépré/Zoé Vergé-Dépré, eventually falling in the tie-break 2-1 (18-21, 21-17, 15-13).

Canada’s men’s team of Jonny Pickett (Wiarton, ON) and two-time Olympian Sam Schachter (Richmond Hill, ON) lost to Perusic/Schweiner of Czech Republic 2-0 (21-15, 21-17) in their opening pool match. They play Brazil next.

Friday pool-play schedule (Team Canada)
Evandro/Arthur Lanci vs. Schachter/Pickett at 15:00
Melissa/Brandie vs Ittlinger/Grüne at 16:00
Bélanger/Monkhouse vs. Dan/Tania at 19:00
Melissa/Brandie vs Carol/Rebecca at 21:00

• More on international teams, results and photos can be found here.
• Ticket Info: https://mtlbeachprotour.com/
• Watch the action on Radio-Canada, CBC Sports and VBTV.