Mike Ceresia is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

retired

racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase vel ...

player from

Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes, ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. He won gold in the Men’s Team event at fou
International Racquetball Federation
(IRF)

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 ...

, and one overall World Championship Title for a total of 5 Gold Medals. This is a Canadian record. In Canada, Ceresia won 10 Canadian Championships (two singles and eight doubles), and that is 3rd most men's titles (tied with Sherman Greenfeld).

International career

Ceresia represented Canada on 18 occasions between 1988 and 2002, including eight consecutive

during that period. His lowest finish at the World Championships was fourth. Ceresia was a member on the Canadian men's team that won gold four times: 1988, 1996, 2000 and 2002, as well as a gold medal for Overall/Combined Team in 2000. Ceresia and his partners won the deciding match for the men's team title in 1988, 2000 and 2002. These three clinching victories were over the United States. Ceresia was the men's doubles silver medalist at Worlds on four occasions: in 1988 with Paul Shanks, in 1990 with Ross Harvey, in 1996 with Simon Roy, and in 2002 with Mike Green. Ceresia was also a World silver medallist in men's singles in 1994. Ceresia was a

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 ...

silver medalist in the Men's Team event in Mar Del Plata, Argentina in 1995.

Canadian career

Ceresia was the Canadian Champion in Men's Singles twice: in 1992 and in 1997. He was Canadian National Doubles Champion in Men's Doubles on eight occasions. His first two doubles titles were back to back in 1988 with Roger Harripersad and 1989 with Paul Shanks. He next won in 1993 with Jacques Demers. Ceresia's most successful partnership was with Simon Roy. They won three consecutive championships, from 1995 to 1997. Ceresia won in 2000 with Mike Green and his final championship came in 2002 with Gary Waite. His 10 Canadian Championships tie him for third most men's championships with Sherman Greenfeld.

Personal life

Ceresia is a member of three sports halls of fame. He was inducted into the Sarnia-Lambton Sports Hall of Fame in 2008, Ceresia was inducted into th
Racquetball Canada
Hall of Fame in May 2018. In 2024, he was named to the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. Ceresia graduated from the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

with a BA in 1987. Ceresia and his wife Claudine have two children and live in

Burlington, Ontario Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is a city and List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipality in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region at the west end of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Can ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ceresia, Mike Canadian racquetball players 1963 births Living people Sportspeople from Burlington, Ontario Sportspeople from Sarnia Pan American Games silver medalists in racquetball Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada Racquetball players at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games