Montreal, February 16, 2013 – On the tatami in the Under 57kg category, Canadian judoka Joliane Melançon finished fifth Saturday at the Oberwart European Senior Open taking place in Austria.

Currently ranked twelfth in her weight class, 26 year-old Quebec native Melançon delivered solid performances in her first three bouts – using Ippons to dispatch France’s Cindy Huber, Croatia’s Andrea Bekic and Slovenia’s Katja Rigelnik to earn a berth in the semi-finals.

“I didn’t have any issues with the new rules. I actually was thrown to the ground in a waza-ari in two of my first bouts which was not ideal! I’m happy I came back from each of those deficits for wins though,” explained Melançon.

Faced with Japan’s Megumi Ishikawa – ranked 37^th internationally – the Montreal resident was beaten by Ippon after roughly one minute on the tatami. “She wasn’t a competitor I was familiar with, but I did see her matches throughout the day and knew she was really strong in mat-work. What worried me a bit was that she was able to dominate the kumi-kata, which brought me to the ground. I fought for a while, but I probably should have been more active so as to stay defensive during our bout.”

In the bronze medal round, Melançon wasn’t able to get by Brazil’s Ketleyn Quadros who is ranked 10^th internationally. Quadros scored a waza-ari in the first few seconds of the combat and then went on to unleash an Ippon. Melançon analyzed, “She was quite honestly just faster than me in terms of hand movement. There was no point when I was able to impose my judo style or rhythm – that’s how she beat me. I would have loved to have finished the day on a brighter note, but putting things into perspective, overall, I’m happy with my performance today. I haven’t competed since the end of September 2012, and I was a bit under the weather prior to my arrival here. So, ultimately it’s a good start to the Winter competitive season,” mused Melançon, whose next matches will be in Germany, at the Düsseldorf Grand Prix next weekend.

In the finals, Megumi Ishikawa won gold, battling Austria’s Sabrina Filzmoser (15^th internationally).

Also in action in the Under 57kg class, Nicole Jenicek defeated Slovenia’s Vesna Dzukic in her first round. In the second bout, the Ontario native’s progress was halted by Ippon, dolled out by England’s Nekoda Davis.

A Tough Day For the Men In Budapest

In men’s judo action, Team Canada had tough day at the Budapest European Senior Open, in Hungary.

Charles Breton-Leduc (60 kg), Étienne Briand (73 kg), Patrick Gagné (66 kg), Arthur Margelidon (73 kg) and Alexis Morin-Martel (73 kg) were all beaten in their first bouts, and as such were unable to obtain rankings.

On Sunday, Day Two of competitions, Kelita Zupancic will take to the tatami in the Under 70kg category in Oberwart; in the Men’s competition in Budapest, Antoine Valois-Fortier will be back on the mat in the Under 81kg category.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada