Montreal, September 21, 2018 – Quebecoise Ecaterina Guica will leave the World Championships with a desire to push herself. Even though the athlete didn’t reach her goal in -52 kg, she has learned a lot from her experience in Baku, in Azerbaidjan, on Friday.

The Montrealer was eliminated after her first fight in the tournament. Fabienne Kocher, from Switzerland, won by ippon in less than 3 minutes.

“I’m really disappointed. She’s someone I could definitely have won against, and I will in the future. Everything was going well when we were standing, I was dominating with the grip, and I followed my plan,” said Guica.

The 24-year-old said she made a mistake during a floor sequence, and it cost her the victory.

“I should never stay in a defensive position on the floor. I should have stood back up right away instead of relaxing. I won’t happen again! That’s where she got me. It’s a shame to make a mistake at Worlds, because there’s no room for mistakes here. I feel like the victory slipped through my fingers. I’m coming back from a great performance in Hungary, and my preparation was good,” said the judoka, who won a bronze medal at the Budapest Grand Prix in August.

Ecaterina Guica will fly back to Quebec on Sunday, and she will sit with her coaches to work on a plan for next season.

“I’ve always dreamt of winning a medal at Worlds. It’ll be my goal next year, because I know I have what it takes to get there. It’s unfortunate to have such a short day, because I could have won a lot of points for the Olympic qualification. I’ll work on that during the next tournaments.”

The finalists for the world champion title both were from Japan. Uta Abe defeated Ai Shishime. French Amandine Buchard and Brazilian Erika Miranda were the bronze medallists.

On Saturday, Christa Deguchi and Jessica Klimkait will be in action in the -57 kg category. Antoine Bouchard and Arthur Margelidon will also be on the mats, in -73 kg.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
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Patrick Esparbès
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