Montreal, August 9, 2019 – Bradley Langlois (-73 kg) lost against Peruvian Alonso Wong on Friday in the quarterfinal of the Pan American Games in Lima, in Peru. The Canadian judoka was defeated because of a penalty after a bout that lasted over eleven minutes and was marked by questionable decisions from the referee.

“Honestly, the refereeing could have been better! I’ve rarely seen a fight in which an athlete didn’t get any shidos in over 10 minutes. It truly is a shame,” commented coach Jean-Pierre Cantin after the bout, in which Langlois did everything he could to defeat his opponent.

“Bradley (Langlois) was very active, and his opponent was very static. He tried to make him fall numerous times, but he just couldn’t do it. I think it was the only way to defeat him, because the referees never gave him a penalty. After a while, it affects you psychologically and it gets difficult.”

Langlois couldn’t rest after the heartbreaking defeat, because he was back on the tatami ten minutes later to face the eventual bronze medallist, American Nicholas Delpopolo, in the first round of repechage.

Despite the fatigue, the Canadian athlete had a good fight, even though he didn’t get the result he wanted. “He fought well against the American, but he lost with a penalty. His opponent had plenty of time to rest, and it showed. We could really see how tired Bradley was,” added Cantin.

The only time of rejoicing for Bradley Langlois happened during his first bout, when he faced Haitian Philippe Abel Matellus. “It was an excellent fight. He followed the plan perfectly and took advantage of the opportunities to score a waza-ari early in the fight. He then waited for the right moment to throw his opponent and score an ippon,” explained Cantin about the duel which, according to him, is the best recap of Langlois’s work.

“He had a good day. He did what he had to do, but his loss against the Peruvian was a lot to take in,” he said about his protege, who ranked in seventh place.

The gold medallist was Cuban Miguel Estrada, the only judoka to defeat Wong. Wong was defeated by ippon. Like Delpopolo, Brazilian Jeferson Santos Junior stood on the third step of the podium.

Jacob Valois couldn’t compete in the -66 kg category.

The competition will be continuing on Saturday in Lima, and Mohab El Nahas (-90 kg) and Emily Burt (-70 kg) will be competing.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada

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