Montréal, October 18, 2011 – Alexandre Émond’s day was short lived, as he lost his second round bout in the under 90 kg class, Tuesday, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the United Arab Emirates.

The Quebecer, ranked 19^th worldwide, received a bye into the second round before meeting up with the Azerbaijani Elnur Mammadli, unranked in the 90 kg class, but 3^rd in the 81 kg category.

“Mammadli is an ex-Olympic champion in the 73 kg division and now fights at 81 kg, Canadian coach Nicolas Gill explained. He’s already qualified for his participation at the London Games in the 81 kg category. So I imagine he saw this tournament as more or less a training exercise.”

Émond fought hard for five minutes against the Azerbaijani, who finally took him down with a waza-ari.

Mammadli would eventually go on to obtain one of the two available bronze medals in the division.

“In the first attack of the bout, the Azerbaijani threw Alex, who fell hard on his elbow, Gill pointed out. Alex was slightly injured, but he kept going. Unfortunately, from that point on, he lacked the power in his arm necessary to really put his opponent in any kind of danger.”

“We’re holding out hope that he can heal in time for the upcoming Pan-American Games,” the National coach concluded, who will be with his protégés in Mexico next week.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada