Montreal, January 23, 2016 (Sportcom) – Stéfanie Tremblay was the only Canadian athlete to win a match this Saturday, day two of the Havana Judo Grand Prix, in the Cuban capital.

Tremblay finished the competition with a 1-1 log in the Under 63 kg class. In her first match, the Saguenay athlete defeated Mexico’s Andrea Gutierrez by immobilization. She then succumbed in overtime to Swede Mia Hermansson, who would go on to win a bronze medal.

“I managed the fight well and at the end, I made the mistake to fail to keep my distance,” analyzed Tremblay. “I had to be very alert to the gripping and keep her from getting her hand up my back, because that’s her most dangerous technique. But because of fatigue, I was only able to block her at 85% and she managed to get the decisive yuko in.”

In spite of this setback, she feels like she fought well. “Other than this mistake, I couldn’t have done anything differently,” said the athlete, who still aims to qualify for her first Olympic Games. “I am still looking ahead to the next competitions.”

On the men’s side, Étienne Briand (Under 73 kg), from Sept-Îles, was eliminated in his first match, against Italian Andrea Regis. Competing in the same weight class, Arthur Margelidon met the same fate in the hands of the continent’s reigning champion, Brazilian Alex Pombo da Silva.

“I was leading by waza-ari and everything was going great,” said Margelidon. “I tried a technique and I thought I had scored, but they didn’t give me the point and we fell to the ground. He ended up winning by choking. I went all out with my technique to finish the fight. If I hadn’t been sure I’d score, I wouldn’t have tried that move and I would have protected myself from a choking attempt.”

The competition ends this Sunday, when Catherine Roberge (Under 78 kg) and Marc Deschênes (Under 100 kg) will be on the roster.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada