(Montreal) Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard concluded her journey in the under 63 kg category at the World Judo Championships in fifth place on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The world number one in the category finished just off the podium following her defeat by waza-ari against Laura Fazliu of Kosovo in one of the two bronze finals.
Published at 3:10 p.m.
Sportcom
In an energetic and close fight, Beauchemin-Pinard was not able to break through the tight guard of her opponent who got the better of her by limiting her attacks.
“I have a lot to work on between now and the Olympics, which is a good thing. Yes, I have a certain disappointment, because I wanted to finish on the podium, but I don’t think that this fifth place will undermine my morale,” explained Beauchemin-Pinard in an interview.
Mid-fight, the Canadian made an attack on Fazliu who managed to turn her around and then knock her to the side, which allowed her to score a waza-ari. The 2022 world vice-champion received a second penalty with less than a minute to go and the Kosovar then played the clock to run out the time.
“Before the point was scored, I believed in it, I attacked well and I didn’t make many mistakes. The attack where she countered me was the right one to do, but I was perhaps missing a little push on the shoulder. I also lacked a little precision and detail in the execution. She was quite quick and good at turning around quickly,” continued Beauchemin-Pinard.
In the quarter-finals, the Montrealer beat the reigning Olympic champion and 2023 world champion, Frenchwoman Clarisse Agbegnenou, by waza-ari, who was the other athlete to take the third step of the podium.
“I haven’t had a victory yet (in five fights) against Clarisse, so it’s a good day for me and I’m happy with this fight. After that, I saw myself going all the way to the final for gold, but the accumulated fatigue took a toll on me. »
In the semi-final, Beauchemin-Pinard was defeated by the future gold medalist, the 21-year-old Dutchwoman, Joanne Van Lieshout, who disposed of the Polish Angelika Szymanska in the grand final. Earlier, the Quebecer had defeated the Czech Renata Zachova and the Portuguese Barbara Timo.
Canadian coach Antoine Valois-Fortier had already started to learn lessons from this day.
“I’m going to call it a perfect practice round. She had very high level opponents from the first fights and she had three great victories, including the most important against the Frenchwoman. This is an important mental step that she has just taken. »
The 29-year-old athlete is expected to represent Canada at the Olympic Games for the third time in his career after appearances in Rio and Tokyo. She was also a bronze medalist in the Japanese capital. The Olympic tournament under 63 kg will take place in ten weeks, to the day, said the athlete.
“I have enough time to deal with these defeats. “I’m not on the podium like I wanted to be, but there’s something good to come from this day,” she concluded.
In the men’s under 81 kg draw, François Gauthier-Drapeau did not obtain a ranking due to his 2-1 record.
The 26-year-old athlete started his day with an ippon victory against Chilean Jorge Perez. He then served the same medicine to the Greek Athanasios Mylonelis in the round of 32 and then saw his journey end by ippon against the Russian and 2019 junior world vice-champion, David Karapetyan.
“François had two good first victories and he dominated his fights by winning on penalties. Then, against the Russian, it was against a left-hander who has a style that gives him a lot of difficulty,” admitted Valois-Fortier about his protégé who was ranked fifth at the world championships last year, in Doha. .
“It was a difficult fight for François and it will be up to us to make the adjustments for the future. There is no doubt in my mind that François is part of the elite. Now we have to align everything on the big day.”
Louis Krieber-Gagnon (-90 kg) will be the only Canadian in action on Wednesday at the World Championships.
2024-05-21 19:15:42
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