Montreal, August 30, 2014 – Kyle Reyes succumbed to defeat in his second fight in the under 100 kg class, Saturday, at the Judo World Championships presented in Chelyabinsk, Russia. The Ontarian finished the competition with a 17th place classification.
“It wasn’t what I had been hoping for. I was aiming for a gold medal, so I’m pretty disappointed. My first bout went fairly well, but I was taken by surprise in the second one. My opponent was very good,” indicated Reyes, who is the defending junior world champion.
The 17th ranked Canadian began his day with a win over the Pakistani Hussain Shah, who currently sits 84th in the International Judo Federation standings.
“It was a fairly simple affair against the Pakistani, who, like Kyle, has been living in Japan since he was young,” Canadian head coach Nicolas Gill noted. “Kyle scored a yuko by throwing him to ground and immobilizing him.”
In the next round, the Ontarian took on Ivan Remarenco of the United Arab Emirates. The 32nd ranked judoka came away with a victory by ippon over Reyes, and would go on to claim an impressive 3rd place finish.
“Kyle started pretty well against his opponent, who is of Moldovan descent. He seemed to be in control, but then all of the sudden he was caught off guard by a combination of attacks,” Gill pointed out. “It’s a bit disappointing, but I think it’s just a minor setback for him. He’s only 20 years old after all.”
Gold in this -100 kg category would eventually be claimed by the Czech Lukas Krpalek, who defeated the Cuban Jose Armenteros in the grand finale.
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