Canadians end their Judo competition in London
29 December 2020Mr. Hiroshi Nakamura Honoured as Member of the Order of Canada
29 December 2020Montreal, November 10, 2012 – From among the four Canadian judokas in action at the Malaga, Spain European Judo Cup, Alister Ward was the highest ranking Canuck, ending his day with a bronze medal win.
Team Canada Head Coach Nicolas Gill was nonetheless proud of all athletes present. “With his second medal win in a European Judo Cup, Alister Ward is moving forward quickly. The next step for him will be to medal in a World Cup, which shouldn’t take too long. Also of note today was Charles Breton-Leduc’s performance, since his return after a shoulder operation, he’s not too far off from podiums each competition, which is encouraging.”
Receiving a pass into the first round in the Under 66kg category, Alister Ward won his first two bouts, besting Spain’s Fernandez Barroso Jose Manuel by Ippon before dispatching Germany’s Philipp Mackeldey, also by Ippon.
Presently ranked 148th internationally, Ward only saw one defeat in Malaga, losing a bout against The Netherlands Wytze De Jong, who went on to win the silver medal. During his last match, the Canadian rallied back against Latvia’s Aleksandrs Dolotovs – again by Ippon.
On the tatami in the Under 60kg class, Charles Breton-Leduc took seventh place. Breton-Leduc also received an automatic pass into round one, facing – and bettering – Spain’s Joaquin Gomis Jimeno by Ippon. The next match saw the Quebec native beaten 5-0 by eventual silver medallist Spaniard Victor Garcia Osado; Breton-Leduc then hustled to a 7-0 victory over French judoka Gaétan Vimont only to once again see defeat by the Ippon of Portugal’s Numo Carvalho.
In the Under 73kg category, Vincent Marticotte also concluded his day in seventh place. After a 5-0 win when facing Spain’s Guillermo Rubio Torralbo, he then tasted defeat in a 1-0 bout against Spaniard David Paco Sanchez. Marticotte came back strong to win his next two bouts, wielding Ippons against England’s Khalid Gehlan and Russia’s Pavel Malakhov, before Italy’s Gesualdo Scollo put a stop to the Canadian’s rise with a 5-0 win.
Also in the Under 75kg, Simon Ashwood-Smith was unable to achieve a final ranking with a scorecard of one win and two defeats.
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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada