Camélia Pitsilis wins the silver medal

Montreal, March 17, 2018 – Quebecoise judoka Camélia Pitsilis won the silver medal at the Junior European Cup in Coimbra, in Portugal.

“I felt really good. Everything went very well. I was focused to finish each fight properly. I’m really happy to win a medal today, because I’ve wanted one for a long time and I’ve worked really hard for it,” said Pitsilis.

The athlete started by winning her 3 fights preliminary fights by ippon against Portuguese Leonor Silva, Israeli Noa Even and Netherlander Lesley Koorn. She then won again by defeating British Josie Steele by ippon in the semi-final.

Her last fight of the day was the final against Italian Silvia Pellitteri. Pellitteri kept her from having a perfect day by scoring an ippon, and won the gold medal.

“The final was very tight. It started out great, and I was in control, but I made a mistake, and it made me lose the gold medal,” explained the athlete from Longueuil.

“It’s Camélia’s first medal in Europe, so I’m very happy for her,” said her coach, Jean-Pierre Cantin. “She’s getting more confident, and she’s finally seeing what she’s capable of. She always had the skills, but she was too timid and she would hesitate. This time, her attitude was better, and something happened. ”

Fighting with the -52 kg, Marie Besson finished in 5^th place after losing against Portuguese Ana Agulhas in the finale for third place.

After winning by ippon in the preliminary rounds, against Israeli Maya Leopold and French Linda Grace Besnard, she lost in the semi-final against British Yasmin Javadian.

After defeating Spanish Lucia Munoz Solano, Virginia Nemeth (-48 kg) lost her second fight, against French Mélanie Vieu. She went into repechage, but lost her second round fight against Assunta Scutto, from Italy. She ended in 7^th place.

Jacob Valois (-66 kg) is the only male Canadian judoka who got a ranking in Portugal. After 2 victories and 1 loss, he was injured and had to forfeit during his last fight in repechage, against Ricardo Casas Fernandez from Spain. He took up the 9^th place.

In the -73 kg category, Solomon Choran won his first two fights before being eliminated by ippon in the third round by Israeli Oron Giner. Sava Antic lost both his fights of the day.

Hakim Chala (-60 kg) had 1 victory and 1 loss. Sasha Zigic (-57 kg), Dontae De Jesus (-60 kg), and Mitchell Markwat (-66 kg) all lost by ippon in the first round.

“I’m very proud of the team in general. They had a good day, and they won a few fights. It’ll give us something to build on,” explained Jean-Pierre Cantin.

Juteau in 7th Place in Peru

The sole Canadian in action today at the Panamerican Open in Lima, in Peru, Gabriel Juteau ended up in 7^th place in the -66 kg category. He won the first round against Jose Geronimo, from the Dominican Republic, before being defeated by ippon during his second fight, against Juan Postigos from Peru. His day ended in repechage, where he lost by ippon against Brazilian Diego Santos.

“It was a disappointing day. It started out well with a victory during my first fight, I felt good. The second fight started out well, but I lacked energy toward the end, and it bothers me,” said Juteau.

“In the third fight, I was taken by surprise with a good technique. Overall, I’m not very pleased with my day.”

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 Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
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