Montreal, December 2, 2012 (Sportcom) – Canadian judoka Amy Cotton earned a bronze medal in the Under 78 kg class Sunday, on the last day of the Judo Grand Slam in Tokyo, Japan. 

A native of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Cotton began the competition with a win against Taipei’s Szu-Chu Want.  “I’d never competed against her before, but I felt confident on the tatami today.  In the middle of the bout I thought I scored an Ippon, but they decided it was a waza-ari; that made it a bit of an easier battle,” admitted Cotton.

In the semi-final, faced with Japan’s Ruika Sato, Cotton was penalized for having caught Sato’s finger.  Near the end of the match – where few attacks were offered – the Japanese judoka surprised the Canadian.  “It was all decided in the last few seconds, but I hung on.  Sato was definitely the tournament favourite and she went on to win gold; she was the toughest of the women on the tatami today (Sunday).  I’m happy about my bronze medal here, it was my first competition after the London 2012 Olympic Games and its always a bit of a challenge to get back into it and focus.  I’m really pleased that I succeeded today.”

Team Canada’s other judoka on the tatami was Kyle Reyes, who finished fifth in the Under 100kg category, ending the day with a ‘dance card’ of two wins and one defeat.  Reyes’ wins were earned in bouts against Brazil’s Renan Nunes, and Russia’s Adlan Bisultanov; his loss came at the hands of Japan’s Daisuke Kobayashi.

Amy Cotton watched her teammate’s performance and can attest to Kyle’s abilities, “Kyle did really well today (Sunday).  This was the first time that I’ve seen him in competition and I was really impressed.  He’ll be an asset to Team Canada in the next few years,” she concluded.     

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Written by: Sportcom for Judo Canada