Montréal, March 23, 2014 – Quebecois judokas Sarah-Myriam Mazouz and Alix Renaud-Roy made their way onto the third step of the podium in their respective categories, Sunday, at the Pan-American Open presented in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

It was a victory by ippon over the Mexican Miriam Gonzalez that saw Sarah-Myriam Mazouz (-78 kg) come away with a bronze medal. After receiving a bye through the opening round, the Quebecoise judoka took down the Argentinian Lidia Arias in the quarterfinals. She would come up short in the semis, falling to the Brazilian Samanta Soares, who herself would go on to claim the silver medal.

“I was able to control the match throughout (against Gonzalez). I took a shido after falling outside of the mat, but I regained my focus from that point forward. Finally, I was able to take her down for an ippon,” added Mazouz, who knew at the beginning of the day that a podium finish was within her grasp.

“I felt really good this morning and didn’t feel stressed at all. My mindset was simple: Whatever happens will happen. In the end, things went really well,” said Mazouz, who won her second career medal in a continental Open.

Alix Renaud-Roy also had a fine day on the tatamis even though she fell in her first bout in the under 70 kg class to teammate Monika Burgess.

“We’re training partners, so obviously we know each other pretty well. I made a mistake by attacking her on a side where she’s more comfortable, and she put me into ippon after two minutes of combat,” explained Renaud-Roy, who got things back on track after that.

In the repechage, Renaud-Roy imposed her will against the Argentinian Mariana Lopez, defeating her handily. In the bronze medal finale she had no mercy for her opponent, the Mexican Andrea Poo, beating her with a waza-ari and two yukos.

“Things went quite well against the Mexican. She has a style that I’m very comfortable in defending against. She’s a bit shorter than I am, and doesn’t have the tendency to raise her hand up high. I had a relatively easy time controlling her by the sleeve and performing my judo. Even though I missed a couple of opportunities to finish the match, I was able to control things right up until the end.”

As for Burgess, she would finish her day with a 5th place classification. Victorious in her first two fights, the Ontarian was defeated in the semifinals by the Brit Megan Fletcher. She then went on to lose by ippon against the German Anne-Katrin Lisewski, failing in her attempt to reach the podium.

On the men’s side, Brandon Jobb finished 5^th in the under 90 kg division.  After taking down in successive bouts the Uruguyan Juan Romero and the American Colton Brown, the Canadian was defeated by the Brit Matthew Purssey. Jobb then went on to beat the American Jacob Larsen in the repechage before falling to the Frenchman Ludovic Gobert in his last fight of the day.

Elsewhere, Zachary Burt finished his tourney with a 7^th place classification. After benefitting from a first round bye, the Ontarian took down the Argentinian Ivan Duarte. In the quarterfinals, Burt was stopped by the Spaniard Adrian Nacimiento Lorenzo. Another Spaniard, this time Tomas Morales Martinatto, would end the Canadian’s day in the repechage.

As for Volodymyr Semyrozum (-90 kg), Marc Deschênes (-100 kg), and James Mcmanus (+100 kg), none were able to come away with a classification.

Jonah Burt walks away with a bronze medal

Meanwhile, at the International Masters of Bremen, Jonah Burt, competing in the U-21 tourney, claimed a 3^rd place finish in the under 81 kg class. In the same category, Mohab El Nahas finished in 5^th.

I’m really satisfied with their performances today,” coach Sasha Mehmedovic affirmed.

Burt started his day off with a loss versus the Dutchman Frank de Wit. Forced into the repechage, Burt went to work, beating every opponent he faced from that point on. The determined Canadian took down in successive rounds the Swede Patrick Hurtig, the Germans Gabriel Berg and Tom Görlitz, and the Brazilian Eduardo Santo. In the bronze medal finale, the product of Whitby, Ontario finished his tourney in style, beating the Dutchman Rico Harder.

“Jonah showed a lot of determination today in winning four consecutive bouts in the repechage,” Mehmedovic pointed out.

As for Mohab El Nahas, he would win his first three fights before succumbing to defeat versus Rico Harder. The Ontarian would then make his way to the repechage, where he would win his first two bouts against the Estonian Klen Kalijulaid and the Dutchman Joep van Montfort. He would come up short of joining his teammate on the podium, however, succumbing to defeat versus Frank de Wit in the bronze medal match.  “Despite the fact that he was dealing with an injured shoulder, Mohab fought really hard today, and came away with a respectable 5^th place finish,” his coach mentioned.

Ossama Mahmoud (-55 kg), Darren Elcok (-60 kg), Yassin Youssef (-60 kg), Anthony Pépin (-60 kg), Vincent Blais-Shiokawa (-66 kg), Antoine Bouchard (-66 kg), Philippe Desjardins (-66 kg), Colton Hall (-66 kg), David Boucher (-73 kg), Patrick Cantin (-73 kg), Bradley Langlois (-73 kg), Dante St-Prix (-73 kg), Louis Krieber-Gagnon (-81 kg), Olivier Gobeil St-Amand (-81 kg) and Martin Rygielski (+100 kg) were all unable to receive a classification.

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