Montreal, December 3, 2011 – Amy Cotton came so very close to earning herself a bronze medal at Saturday’s Judo World Cup in Suwon, South Korea, but despite her efforts she had to settle for fifth place after a final match that went into overtime.

In action on the tatami in the Under 78 kg category, Quebec-native Cotton first dispatched Mongolia’s Uyanga Bayasgalan with an ippon. Currently ranked 16^th internationally, Cotton then went on the beat Italy’s Assunta Galeone (ranked 27^th) by doling out another ippon.

The semi-final round slowed the Canadian’s progress, when Germany’s Luise Malzhan (ranked 14^th) won the match by ippon; Malzhan was consequently bettered by China’s Zhehui Zhang in the finals.

In the dual for one of two available bronze medals, Cotton was stiff competition for South Korea’s Gyeong-Mi Jeong, who sits in tenth place in international judo rankings. Jeong eventually took the match with an ippon – but only after the bout had been extended to overtime.

“Amy had a good day today,” commented Team Canada coach Marie-Hélène Chisholm. “She’s coming back from an injury that forced her to miss some competitions in October – including the PanAmerican Games. Her main goal this weekend was to get back into ‘competition mode’ and she succeeded in that. This World Cup was a good test for her, and it will get her ready for the Grand Slam in Japan,” continued Chisholm, adding that Cotton is slated to participate in a training camp in South Korea this week.

Catherine Roberge was also present in Suwon this weekend, and also competing in the Under 78 kg category. Roberge (ranked 28^th) had a short day which came to an official close after her first bout, when take by surprise by South Korea’s Da Woon Jung – ranked 57^th internationally.

“Catherine’s match was won by penalties; the bout came to a close with three for Catherine against two for Jung,” explained the Coach Chisholm. “She was disappointed that her competition ended like that, but above all, to not have had the chance to take part in another pairing.”

Roberge will also travel to Japan – alongside teammate Cotton – but the former will not be participating in next weekend’s Grand Slam. Roberge will instead be focusing her efforts on training for the next two weeks as she prepares for the China Grand Prix, which will take place December 17-18, 2011.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada