Montreal, April 30, 2017 – Canada’s judokas added two silver medals to their haul in Sunday’s team events, held on the last day of the Pan American Championships in Panama City.

In the final against Brazil, Canada’s representatives lost a tight match that ended 3-2 in favour of their opponents. Stéfanie Tremblay (U63 kg) and Kelita Zupancic (U70 kg) each won their respective bouts, but their teammates Ecaterina Guica (U52 kg), Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard, (U57 kg) and Mina Coulombe (U78 kg) all came up short.

“It was close, they were good fights, it was very exciting,” declared Sasha Mehmedovic, coach of the national women’s team.

It was a tough tournament from the start, with the Canadians going head-to-head against the Cubans. “That was a very tough draw. Historically, the Cuban women’s team has always been strong. We had to get past that first round to have a chance at the gold medal match. We dominated them for the win and then went on to beat the Mexicans.”

Despite their loss in the final, Mehmedovic is satisfied with her team’s performance. “They fought really well and I’m very proud of that.”

Men in Silver

Canada’s male judokas were also met with defeat in the final. They bowed out to the Cubans, who won 3-2.

Antoine Bouchard (U66 kg) and Louis Krieber-Gagnon (U90 kg) racked up the only two wins of the day. Arthur Margelidon (U73 kg), Étienne Briand (U81 kg), and Marc Deschênes (U100 kg) competed in the final but did not score any points.

“Once again, we knew it was not going to be an easy match, but you know what, we came really close,” noted Mehmedovic. “They fought really well, they fought very hard. With a couple of different calls, maybe we would have been at the top of the podium.”

The Canadian men had a solid start, eliminating both the Mexicans and the Cubans in their first two rounds.

Cadet European Cup

In the Cadet European Cup in Berlin, Germany, Benjamin Kendrick (U90 kg) and Rachel Krapman (U57 kg) both lost their matches today.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
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