Judo Canada – Grand Slam
Judo Canada – Grand Slam
Montreal, October 30, 2015 – Canadian judokas had an overall good first day at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, in the United Arab Emirates. After a few rocky weekends, Nicolas Gill’s athletes, for the most part, had good performances in the competition.
On the women’s side, Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard (ranked 8th in the Under 57 kg class) put on a solid performance and came in fifth. The 21-year-old athlete won her first match, against Chinese Po Sum Leung, 115th in the world, by taking only one penalty against her opponent’s three.
Beauchemin-Pinard’s next bout pitted her against Slovenian Vlora Bedeti, 25th, and once again she won by penalties. The Saint-Hubert native then scored an ippon to win her third match, against France’s Laetitia Blot, who had a waza-ari to her name.
Things, however, didn’t go so smoothly in the semi-final, and Beauchemin-Pinard lost by a yuko to Taipei’s Chen-Ling Lien, 15th. The Québécoise went on to lose the fight for the bronze by penalties to German Viola Waechter, 20th.
“I am really disappointed in myself,” said Beauchemin-Pinard. ”I was expecting to make podium, and I came so close, by pretty much one penalty. I don’t think my opponent was better, and I’m the one to blame for losing. I was in overhand for too long twice, and that’s why I got penalized. There’s a rule that says you can’t have your hands on the same side of your body for over five seconds without attacking.”
She mentioned she has to work on her strategy for the Tokyo Grand Slam, in December.
Whitby’s Jessica Klimkait, also competing in the Under 57 kg, lost her first bout by ippon to South Korean Jan-Di Kim.
A Seventh Place for the Men
On the men’s side, Sergio Pessoa (Under 60 kg) was swiftly eliminated. The São-Paulo native beat Swiss Ludovic Chammartin in his first match, but went on to lose to French Vincent Limare.
Antoine Bouchard came in seventh in the Under 66 kg. The Saguenay athlete won his first bout, against Qatar’s Mohamed Rebahi, by ippon, and defeated Brazilian Luiz Revite in his second. Revite managed to get in a yuko before losing the match.
But his winning streak came to an end when Ukrainian Georgii Zantaraia, world’s second best judoka, served him an ippon. In repechage, Bouchard ended up losing by yuko to Uzbekistan’s Rishod Sobirov, ninth.
“I’m pretty satisfied with my fights, except the first one,” said Bouchard. “But of course I wish I had made it further in the competition. I made the same mistake in the two fights I lost. I reached in too deep and they ended up throwing me. Still, there’s some good in the two fights I was leading by penalties.” Bouchard, 17th in the world, will be competing in the Mauritius Islands World Championships next week.
Patrick Gagné, from Baie-Comeau, was supposed to be competing in the same category, but didn’t make weight and had to forfeit the competition.
This Saturday, Kelita Zupancic and Monika Burgess will be hitting the mat in the Under 70 kg. On the men’s side, David Ancor and Arthur Margelidon will be representing the country in the Under 73 kg, while Louis Krieber-Gagnon and Antoine Valois-Fortier will be competing in the Under 81 kg.
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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
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