Montréal, November 27, 2014 – Stéfanie Tremblay was successful in her bouts against Olympic and World medalists at the Jeju Grand Prix, but her fifth place finish during the South Korean competition left her disappointed.

Fighting in the under 57 kg category, the Québécoise, who is ranked 28th in the world, won by ippon during the first round against the Honkonger Po Sum Leung, ranked 136th.

Tremblay then won against the Romanian Corina Caprioriu, ranked 9th and Olympic runner-up in London, who lost by a shido. “I used the strategy that I worked on with my coach against Caprioriu. It was a big victory for me.”

“They had met 4 months ago at the Russia Grand Slam and Stéfanie had lost. Today (Thursday), Stéfanie used the kumikata strategy perfectly and there was nothing the Romanian could do against her,” said the Canadian coach Jeremy Le Bris.

During the quarter final bouts, the French Hélène Receveaux, ranked 35th, won with a penalty against the athlete from Chicoutimi. “I had already won against her this year. It didn’t go as I planned. She adapted her style since the last time I saw her.”

“In September, in Croatia, Stéfanie easily won against her, but today the French didn’t move the same way, she has adapted her style. It was very close,” said Le Bris.

Miryam Roper down

Tremblay fought back in the repechage round with an ippon against the German Miryam Roper, ranked 3rd and bronze medalist at the 2013 World Championships. “I won with an immobilization. It’s the second time I win against her, but this is an important victory.”

“Every move was dangerous. The German is very explosive and her clinch fighting is really strong,” said Le Bris. “They ended up being intertwined and Stéfanie lost her balance and fell with a waza-ari. As she was falling, she took the initiative on the ground and used her leg to immobilize her.”

During one of the bouts for the 3rd place, the Slovene Vlora Bedeti, ranked 15th and also bronze medalist at the 2013 World Championships, won against Tremblay with an accumulation of penalties. “She’s an opponent I fought against in the past and she always wins. Her style is a problem for me.”

“It was the third time Stéfanie fought against her this year and her style is a problem. The Slovene never lets her opponents put their hands down, which give them penalties. That’s what happened today. Stef had 4 penalties.”

Even though she won important victories today, Tremblay was disappointed with her day. “I didn’t reach my goal. I have everything I need to get on the podium, but for that, I have to win against people like Bedeti. I’m pretty disappointed.”

Le Bris shared her feeling. “I’m disappointed for her because she had a good day, but still didn’t win a medal. She has the potential to do much better, and she has to go one step further now.”

Ecaterina Guica surprised

Another judoka was fighting in Jeju on Thursday: Ecaterina Guica, in the under 52 kg category.

After being exempted from the opening round, the Québécoise, ranked 42th, was surprised by the French Lucile Duport, ranked 66th, who won by ippon.

“Ecaterina had a strong start, she took control with a kumikata. After half of the fight, there was a disputed move where Ecaterina thought she had scored an ippon. Then she let her opponent score one,” explained Le Bris.

The athlete from La Prairie will have a chance to fight back next week, at the Tokyo Grand Slam.

On Friday, still in South Korea, Monika Burgess (under 70 kg) and Arthur Margelidon (under 73 kg) will be in action.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada