Montreal, May 29, 2016 – New Brunswick judoka Andrew Vienneau came in seventh place in the Over 90 kg class this Sunday at the European Cadet Cup in Coimbra, Portugal.

In the opening round, Vienneau swiftly disposed of Portuguese Henrique Ferreira with an ippon. He lost his second match, also by ippon, to Spanish Luis Alberto Bodalo Mateo, who would go on to win the silver. He was then eliminated in repechage by Spanish Carlos Reboredo Diego, who won the match by yuko.

Ontario’s Luka Khatelishvili also finished the tournament with a log of one win and two losses on Sunday, coming in ninth in the Under 81 kg division.

Khatelishvili scored an ippon against Spain’s Ruben Couce Sanchez in the opening round, but second round gave him a taste of his own medicine – he was served an ippon at the hands of Belgian Pieter Vandyck. He suffered a second ippon in his repechage match against Russian Khamzat Khamkhoev.

In the Under 57 kg, Ontario judoka Natalie Rygielski won one match and lost another, while Quebecer Camelia Pitsilis didn’t get past her first bout of the day.

Manitoban Damien Ekosky was the only other Maple Leafer to win a match this Sunday. He was eliminated after the second Under 73 kg round.

In the Under 63 kg, BC athlete Alicia Fiandor lost her only match of the day, while Albertan Sarah Perks lost twice in the Over 70 kg.

“It’s been a pretty tough day,” said national coach Jean-Pierre Cantin. “None of Canada’s judokas were able to win more than one fight.”

“It has become very clear this weekend that our judokas are going to have to work on their physical preparation if they want to go up against the Europeans. They have a strong judo game, but it’s hard to get a move in if you can’t get your hands on your opponent.”

“Preparing for the 2007 World Cadet Championships, we’re going to focus on our athletes’ strength and physical conditioning,” concluded Cantin.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
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