Montreal, October 18, 2018 – Canadian judokas in action on Thursday at the Junior World Championships in Nassau, in the Bahamas, have all gained a lot of experience. Their journey was cut short after being eliminated in the first and second rounds, but they all offered impressive performances.

In -66 kg, Quebecois Jacob Valois started off strong by winning by ippon against Argentinian Minoru Tamashiro. He was then eliminated in the next round by Russian Murad Chopanov.

“Jacob won his first fight decisively. He dominated. He also fought very well against the Russian. He put a lot of pressure on his opponent with a series of attacks to make him get a penalty. Sadly, he was surprised with a counterattack and lost by ippon. Despite his loss, he showed a lot of maturity and control in his judo. I’m very happy with his performance. He’s ready for the next level,” said the Canadian coach Jean-Pierre Cantin.

In the same category, Mitchell Wolfe Markwat only went on the tatami once. He was defeated by ippon by Russian Kazbek Naguchev.

In the -73 kg category, Keagan Young and Constantin Gabun were both eliminated in the second round.

Young easily won his first fight by ippon against his first opponent, Mexican Emiliano Saucedo, after a little over one minute. The Ontarian then lost by ippon against Ukrainian Hiervorh Manukian in the next round.

“He dominated well in his first bout, and he attacked with precision to win. He lost the second bout by ippon, but he had scored a waza-ari and he was in control. His lack of experience cost him the victory. After the fight, he said he panicked and gave his opponent a chance to attack while he was vulnerable. Keagan is still a cadet and his progression on the international stage is impressive,” said his coach.

Gabun won against Russian Georgii Elbakiev in the first round. He then lost against Turkish Bilal Ciloglu, who won by ippon.

On the women’s team, Marie Besson was eliminated after her first fight in -52 kg. The Quebecoise was eliminated after Turkish Irem Korkmaz scored an ippon.

“Marie was up against a strong opponent, and her fighting style was not easy to counter. She was doing well, but she was countered and her opponent scored an ippon,” explained Jean-Pierre Cantin.

Camélia Pitsilis (-57 kg) suffered a similar fate. Columbian Keyla Vasquez defeated her by ippon in the first round.

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