After the gold medal won by Christa Deguchi (57 kg) the day before, the Canadian judokas returned to the podium on Saturday at the grand slam in Baku, Azerbaijan. Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard came close to imitating Deguchi, but ultimately won the silver medal in the under 63 kg category, while Arthur Margelidon came in third. podium in the under 73 kg category.
It was at the end of a marathon duel in the grand final against the Austrian Lubjana Piovesana that Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard had to admit defeat, she who had been the main facilitator of this confrontation. The Canadian increased the attacks from the first moments, without however being able to win.
Piovesana was finally able to win with an ippon after more than four minutes of overtime.
It was very close in the final, the fight was very long. Catherine wanted to set the tone from the start by attacking quickly. There may have been a little impatience at the end of the fight, but it’s always easier to say once it’s over. It’s an encouraging result at this point in the season, commented Canadian coach Antoine Valois-Fortier.
Holding a bye in the first round, Beauchemin-Pinard started her day with a convincing victory over Sevinch Isokova of Uzbekistan. The Quebecer then needed overtime to overcome the Austrian Magdalena Krssakova in the next round.
Leader of her category in the world rankings, she then secured her place in the final with victories against the Dutch Geke Van Den Berg and the Hungarian Szofi Ozbas.
It was a superb competition for Catherine. She had a good start to the day, scoring points both standing and on the ground. She was disappointed with her performance at the Paris grand slam two weeks ago and it’s good to see her bounce back like this, added Valois-Fortier.
A first grand slam podium since 2022
For his part, Arthur Margelidon managed to end a drought of more than 15 months without a grand slam podium when he won the bronze final against Rashid Mammadaliyev of the Uzbekistan. Margelidon scored a waza-ari with just seconds left to secure his victory.
His last grand slam medal went up in November 2022, also in Baku.
The Quebecer got the better of the South Korean Heoncheol Kang and the Azeri Ibrahim Aliyev during his first two duels. He subsequently lost to Abubakr Sherov of Tajikistan in the quarterfinals. Margelidon, however, was able to bounce back nicely in the repechage where he defeated Frenchman Joan-Benjamin Gaba to qualify for one of the duels for a bronze medal.
For Arthur, finishing the day with four victories and one defeat is excellent. It was a very close fight in the quarterfinals and he used all his skills and strengths well to win important fights. It’s good to see him back on the podium, said the Canadian driver.
As for him, François Gauthier-Drapeau (-81 kg) was limited to a single fight on Saturday since he lost to the Georgian Zaur Dvalashvili.
The Baku grand slam will conclude on Sunday. Louis Krieber-Gagnon (-90 kg), Kyle Reyes (-100 kg) and Shady Elnahas (-100 kg) will be the three Canadians in action.
Justin Karn, 7th in Germany
A representative from Canada was in attendance on Saturday at the parajudo grand prix in Heidelberg, Germany. Justin Karn (J2 -60 kg), originally from Guelph, Ontario, but current resident of Montreal, took 7th place in the competition.
In the category of visually impaired athletes, Karn won his first duel of the day against the Frenchman Anatole Rubin, before losing in the next round to the South Korean Min-Jae Lee, in a duel which required overtime.
The 42-year-old Canadian did not let this defeat get him down. He came back strong with an ippon victory against Israeli Roi Haim Armani. His working day ended when he was defeated by Uzbek Sherzod Namozov.
Priscilla Gagné (J1 -57 kg), Christina Mowatt (J1 -57 kg) and Eitel Houedakor (J1 -90 kg) will participate in the Heidelberg grand prix on Sunday.
2024-02-17 20:29:30
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