LONDON – September 1, 2012 – Canadians Tony Walby (Ottawa, ON) and Tim Rees (Victoria, BC) ended their judo competition today at the London 2012 Paralympic Games in the +100Kg and -100Kg divisions today in judo.

Tony Walby (Ottawa, ON) had a great start of the day when throwing his opponent to the ground and winning his opening match over France by ippon.

 “This felt great!” said Walby after his first match against France. “I was nervous at first but once I got a grip, it was all gone and I just played my judo. I heard my coach and nobody else. This is a real experience. My wife and 17-week-old baby are in the stands with other members of my family. This is all that matters for me. I’ll remember for the rest of my life that she was here for my last fight.”

 Walby was defeated in his second match against Cuban Jimenez Dominguez and moved on to the repêchage. He suffered a second loss against Paralympic Champion Ilham Zakiyev from Azerbaïdjan in the evening, ending his first participation in the Paralympic Games.

 Tim Rees (Victoria, BC) suffered a loss in his first match against British favourite Joe Ingram. He did not move on to repêchage.

 “He was stronger than I expected,” said Rees. “One decent attack I did with him at the end is actually what got me countered. Too bad I didn’t win but the crowd was good. I was here to fight and the crowd got a good one I believe.”

 This was the last day of competition for Canadian judokas. Earlier this week, Justin Karn of Kitchener, Ont., finished in seventh place in the -60kg division.