The Canadian judo team concluded the Pan American and Oceania Championships on Saturday in Rio with five new medals, including one gold, three silver and one bronze.
The maple leaf far from went unnoticed in the under 100 kg category, as compatriots Shady El Nahas and Kyle Reyes faced each other in the final.
From the start of the fight, Reyes went for a few attacks, but El Nahas didn’t wait long before responding to score a waza-ari.
The two opponents then continued hostilities until the end of four minutes of regulation time, where El Nahas was crowned champion.
They’ve already met several times in competition, so they know each other a lot. It was a close and very tactical fight. Shady was able to score a point halfway through, which surprised Kyle, and then he maintained his lead, coach Antoine Valois-Fortier said of the winner.
The two bronze medals were won by Brazilians Rafael Buzacarini and Leonardo Goncalves.
Silver Hat Trick
Reyes is not the only Canadian judoka to have won silver. François Gauthier-Drapeau also climbed onto the second step of the podium, but this time, in the under 81 kg category.
The Quebecer lost by ippon in the final against the gold medalist of the Pan American Games in Santiago, the Brazilian Guilherme Schimidt.
François largely led the fight. He was giving his best fight against this opponent, but unfortunately he made a mistake at the end and it cost him the fight, said Valois-Fortier.
Before his last duel, Gauthier-Drapeau won against New Zealander Maarten De Ridder. He subsequently defeated the Uruguayan Alain Aprahamian in the quarter-finals and the Brazilian Gabriel Falcao in the final four.
Ana Laura Portuondo Isasi (+78 kg) also stood out by winning silver. She managed to advance to the final, where she met Brazilian Beatriz Souza, who beat her by ippon early in the fight.
In the final, unfortunately, it was a fairly short fight, said Valois-Fortier. On the other hand, I am convinced that she will have learned a lot from this defeat, but, all in all, she had a very good day with three victories.
Crowned junior champion earlier this week, John Jr. Messé A Bessong (+100 kg) this time reached the third step of the podium. He managed to reach a duel for the bronze medal, where he defeated the Cuban Jonathan Loynaz.
His compatriot Marc Deschênes lost in the other clash for bronze against the Ecuadorian Freddy Figueroa. He thus finished 5th in the general classification.
Finally, Louis Krieber Gagnon (-90 kg) also lost in the bronze final.
The Canadian selection completed the two-day competition with a haul of eight medals and two titles from the Pan American and Oceania Championships.
2024-04-28 10:08:11
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