(Doha) Judoka Antoine Bouchard narrowly missed a podium in the Masters Tournament. He lost to Uzbek Khikmatillokh Turaev, eighth in the world, depriving him of a bronze medal in the under 73 kg.
Bouchard, from Jonquière, went on the offensive from the first moments of the fight, without however registering for the score. Turaev, a Paris Grand Slam bronze medalist last winter, surprised Bouchard with just over a minute to go in regulation time by sending him to the ground to score the waza-ari and take the lead.
Despite several attempts, Bouchard was unable to retaliate in the last minute. His opponent bet on the defense to stay in control until the very end and climb to the third step of the podium.
“I was exasperated, because I found that he took his time between the exchanges and I felt him really tired. I was too, but the adrenaline was helping me as I was falling behind. I followed the plan, but he slowed down after scoring and he could attempt attacks to look good without necessarily putting me in danger, ”explained Bouchard.
Bouchard suffered his first defeat of the tournament in the semi-finals against the Japanese Hashimoto Soichi, 2017 world champion. Ranked second in the world, Soichi then lost in the final to the South Korean Changrim An, 13e in the world.
In his first three clashes, the 26-year-old athlete was right by ippon of Ukrainian Artem Khomula, Swede Tommy Macias and Mongolian Victor Sterpu.
However, this fifth place remains the best result of his career in a Masters Tournament, he also participated in those in Rabat in 2015 and Guadalajara in 2016.
Still in the under 73 kg category, Arthur Margelidon lost by ippon in overtime against Kazakh Zhansay Smagulov in his first face-to-face.
A victory and a setback for Briand
In the under 81 kg category, Étienne Briand ended his day with a 1-1 record. The 27-year-old defeated Puerto Rican Adrian Gandia before being defeated in overtime to Bulgaria’s Ivaylo Ivanov, a possible bronze medalist.
Antoine Valois-Fortier had a short outing against Mongolian Uuganbaatar Otgonbaatar, losing by ippon.
The only Canadian in action on Tuesday, Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard lost in overtime in her only fight of the day against Austrian Magdalena Krssakova in the under 63 kg category.
On Monday, Jessica Klimbait won a bronze medal in the under 57 kg category.
The Doha Masters Tournament ends on Wednesday and Canada’s Shady el Nahas will be in the under 100 kg category.
