Montreal, December 16, 2017 – Arthur Margelidon placed seventh in the -73 kg category on Saturday at the prestigious, invitation-only World Masters’ Tournament, being held in Saint Petersburg, Russia, this weekend.

“The 16 top-ranked judokas in the world are invited to this tournament and I had the chance to fight for a medal. It will have to be for another time. I know I’m up to the task! I just have to keep doing what I’m doing and try not to change everything.”

Arthur Margelidon and Iran’s Mohammad Mohammadi. Credit Sabau Gabriela/IJF

The Montrealer’s run came to an end in the repechage, where he battled Sweden’s Tommy Macias, who won by ippon.

“It was a foolish loss for me. I beat the same opponent at the Tokyo Grand Slam two weeks ago. It’s a bit disappointing. I kept the same strategy because it’s what allows me to beat the toughest opponents in my category,” explained Margelidon. “I have trouble against the Swede because he has a really unique style. I was winning by penalty until I made a bad choice in my attack. In one sequence, I wanted to catch him off-guard from behind, but he was ready. He countered, which caught me by surprise. The sequence continued on the ground and he managed to grab me. I’ll use this mistake as an opportunity to grow.”

In his first bout of the day, 24-year-old Margelidon defeated Iran’s Mohammad Mohammadi by waza-ari. His second match, against world champion Soichi Hashimoto of Japan, ended in a loss by ippon.

“I had a great fight against Hashimoto. We went into Golden Score and I came close to winning during a few sequences, but then I made a mistake. He countered with a throw,” concluded the Canadian.

Montreal’s Ecaterina Guica (-52 kg) also fought today, but lost her first match by ippon to Japan’s Natsumi Tsunoda and did not rank.

Étienne Briand (-81 kg) of Sept-Îles will compete on Sunday.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada

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Patrick Esparbès
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