François Viens (born March 7, 1975) is a retired Canadian racquetball player from

Delson, Quebec Delson is an off-island suburbs, off-island suburb (South Shore (Montreal), South shore) of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is situated 8 mi/13 km SSE of Montreal within the regional county municipality of Roussillon Regional County Munici ...

. Viens was a doubles specialist during his career usually playing on the right side. He won four Canadian Championships in doubles, three with

Vincent Gagnon Vincent Gagnon (born September 5, 1981) is a Canadian retired racquetball player from Montreal. Gagnon won five Canadian Championships: four doubles titles and one singles. He also competed for Canada 19 times, winning multiple medals highlighted ...

, with whom he also won the 2007 Pan American Championships and one with Corey Osborne.

International career

Viens made five appearances on Team Canada. His first appearance was at the 2003

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

when he earned a bronze medal in doubles with Corey Osborne. Viens's greatest success internationally was winning the 2007 Pan American Championships in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, where he and

defeated Americans Andy Hawthorne and Jason Samora in the final, 15-6, 11-15, 11-9. Viens also played doubles with Tom O'Brien at the 2004 Pan American Championships, and they earned bronze medals, losing in the semi-finals to Americans Mike Dennison and Shane Vanderson, 15-8, 15-14. Viens's last appearance on Team Canada was at the 2008

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

when he played doubles with Kris Odegard. They lost to the Japanese team of Hiroshi Shimizu and Michimune Kono in the quarter-finals, 2-15, 15-7, 11-6. His other appearance for Canada was at the 2006

when Viens played singles for the only time in his career. He reached the quarter-finals, where he lost to Mexican Gilberto Meija.

Canadian career

Viens won four Canadian Championships in doubles. His first title came in 2003 with Corey Osborne. That victory helped them get selected for that year's

. Viens' other Canadian titles have been with

. They won in 2008, beating Mike Green and Brian Istace in the final, and 2009, when they defeated Green and Eric Desrochers in the final. In 2012, Gagnon and Viens defeated Desrochers and Pedro Castro in the final, 15-8, 8-15, 11-9.

Personal

Viens is married and lives in Delson, Quebec.

International career

Canadian career

Personal

See also

References