Montréal, November 29, 2014 – Canadian judokas Kyle Reyes (- 100 kg) and Ana Laura Portuondo Isasi (- 78 kg) took home 5th and 7th place classifications, Saturday, on the final day of competition at the Jeju Grand Prix presented in South Korea.

Reyes, who currently resides in Japan, got his day off to a good start with a win by ippon against the South Korean Yoonchul Lee. The Ontarian then went on to lose his next bout, falling to the 11th ranked Mongol, Tuvshinbayar Naidan, by a yuko.

In the repechage, Reyes came away victorious versus the 23rd ranked Swiss, Flavio Orlik, winning by an ippon. In the bronze medal bout, he fell to the Belgian Toma Nikiforov (16th), who scored two yukos in the win.

“It wasn’t a great day for me. My goal in Jeju was a gold medal. I’m very disappointed at my performance today. On a positive note, I discovered some things that I need to add to my judo. I only have one week to prepare for my next tournament, but I want to add the things that will help me win,” commented Reyes, who is ranked 19^th in the world in his category.

On the women’s side, Ana Laura Portuondo Isasi finished her tourney with a 7^th place classification in the under 78 kg division. The La Prairie-native, 40^th in the world, began her day with a win by ippon over the 34^th ranked Chinese Taipei competitor, Szu-Chu Wang.

In the quarterfinals, the Quebecoise went to head to head with the No. 2 ranked Frenchwoman Audrey Tcheumeo, who is the reigning vice-world champion and the recipient of a bronze medal at the London Games. Portuondo Isasi would come up second best, losing by two penalties.

Her tourney came to an end in the repechage, where she succumbed to defeat against the 46th ranked South Korean, Mi-Young Choi. As it was with her previous loss, a penalty would eventually be the deciding factor in the match.

“I’m pretty disappointed by my performance. I came in expecting a better result. I have a lot of work to do, and I will look to get those costly penalties out of my judo,” noted Portuondo Isasi, who like Reyes, will have a chance to rebound next weekend at the Tokyo Grand Slam.

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