Montreal, May 23, 2015 – Canadian judoka Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard came in fifth in the Under 57kg class on Saturday, at the World Masters Tournament in Rabat, Morocco.

In the fight for the bronze, the Saint-Hubert native, ranked ninth in the world, succumbed to Nae Udaka, gold medallist in the last World Championships.

As neither judoka managed to score during regulation time, the contest was decided by shido. The penalty count was two for Beauchemin-Pinard and one for Udaka, making the Japanese judoka, ranked tenth in the world, the winner of the match.

“I put up a pretty good fight,” said the Québecoise. “It wasn’t so much an exhausting match, but rather a tactical one, very heavy on the grip. I could have gone a lot longer after those four minutes!”

Beauchemin-Pinard saw in the combat against the world champion an opportunity to take notes for future reference. ”I’m going to be more aggressive with my hands and I’m going to know exactly where to place them.”

Earlier in the day, Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard won her first match against Slovenia’s Vlora Bedeti, 15^th in the world. “I beat her for the first time, so I was pretty happy.”

French athlete Hélène Receveaux, 23^rd, got the best out of Beauchemin-Pinard in the next match. “I was disappointed. I started out strongly, but she managed to score a yuko in a counterattack and I couldn’t bounce back.”

The 20-year-old went back to winning in repechage, against Austria’s Sabrina Filzmoser, 7^th in the world, making it through to the fight for the bronze. “I had beaten her by shido in two other competitions, and then I did it again!”, celebrated the athlete.

In the men’s class, Antoine Bouchard, 18^th in the world in the Under 66kg class, was eliminated in his first match by Azerbaijani Nijat Shikhalizada, ninth in the world.

On Sunday, Kelita Zupancic (Under 70kg), Catherine Roberge (Under 78kg) and Antoine Valois-Fortier will be on the tatami.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada