Montreal, February 5, 2017 – Sunday was a busy day for the Canadian team, with members competing in the Arlon Open, the Visé Open, and the Odivelas European Open. Antoine Bouchard, Emily Burt, Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard, Shady El Nahas, and Étienne Briand all made it to the podium in their respective events.

Emily Burt at the Top of the Podium

In U63 kg action at the Arlon Open in Belgium, Emily Burt and Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard climbed to the first and second levels of the podium, respectively.

The Canadians had each lost only one bout when they faced off in the final. It was a tight match, with Burt taking the victory in overtime.

Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard and Emily Burt

“It was an intense and exciting bout. I think I was just more focused and determined. I really wanted the win so I pushed just a little harder to get it,” commented Burt, who also competed in the junior tournament on Saturday.

It was the first time Beauchemin-Pinard met Burt in competition. The 22-year-old judoka from Saint-Hubert usually competes in the U57 kg group but decided to forego losing weight for this tournament, which is the first in a long series of European tournaments.

“Emily Burt is not an easy opponent. Her judo style is really different from what I’m used to. I enjoy competing against her but she makes me work hard. After such a long match, I would have liked to come out on top. I’m a bit disappointed in that respect, but overall, I’m happy with my day,” explained Beauchemin-Pinard.

Virginia Nemeth (U48 kg), Erin Morgan (U48 kg), Marie Besson (U52 kg), Taeya Koliaska (U52 kg), Camélia Pitsilis (U57 kg), Janika Michel (U63 kg), Hana Kuno (U70 kg), Adriana Portuondo-Isasi (U70 kg), Allaya Copeland (U70 kg), and Mina Coulombe (U78 kg) also competed, but none of them ranked.

Gold for Antoine Bouchard and Bronze for El Nahas in Visé

Saguenay’s Antoine Bouchard placed first overall in the U66 kg group at the Visé Open in Belgium. He put in a perfect performance, ousting Matthijs Van Harten of the Netherlands as well as Kevin Nanor, Robin Corrado, and Kevin Azema of France.

Antoine Bouchard

In the U100 kg class, Canada’s Shady El Nahas posted one win and one loss in the preliminary rounds. He was unbeatable in the repechage, winning all three of his bouts to snag the bronze.

Elsewhere in the U100 kg group, Jacob Valois of Boucherville completed his day with two wins and two losses. Longueuil’s Gabriel Juteau logged one win and one loss while Montreal’s Gueorgui Poklitar lost both his matches.

In U81 kg action, Alex Marineau of Pincourt ended up with one win and one loss while Montreal’s Olivier Gobeil-St-Amand was shown the door by his first opponent.

An Impressive Third-Place Finish for Étienne Briand

At the Odivelas European Open, held in Portugal, Étienne Briand (U81 kg) ended his day with a bronze medal.

The athlete, who hails from Sept-Îles, scored ippons against Portugal’s Steve Castanheira, the Dominican Republic’s Medickson Del Orbe Cortorreal, Israel’s Asaf Chen, and Portugal’s Carlos Luz. His only defeat came at the hands of Russia’s Denis Kalinin in the semi-final. In his bronze medal bout, he overcame Baptiste Pierre of France with an ippon after only 19 seconds.

“It went well, in general. I already knew the Russian who beat me. We’ve trained together in the past. I came on strongly a few times, but at the very end he countered one of my attacks with a waza-ari, which gave him the win. I should maybe have taken a little more time to prepare, but I could feel him about to fall each time,” explained the 23-year-old.

Although he just missed making it to the final, Briand was satisfied with his overall performance. “I won all my other bouts by ippon and I won the bronze medal match in only a few seconds. Things were feeling good and I was throwing well. I’m happy with my day,” he finished.

In other action at the Odivelas European Open, Zachary Burt didn’t make it past his second match in the U90 kg group. Quedjau Nhabali of Ukraine stopped him by waza-ari. Earlier in the day, the Ontarian had gotten the better of Germany’s Dario Kurbjeweit by scoring an ippon.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
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