Frustration on the tatami for Canadian judokas at Worlds
12 May 2023
Alexandria Lefort and Ludwing Ortiz kick off the Canadian Open Championships
19 May 2023
Montréal to Host Canada from May 18-21!
The top judokas from eleven Canadian provinces and territories will converge on Montréal from May 18 to 21 for the Open National Championships. The event, being held at the Centre Pierre-Charbonneau, will feature more than 1,000 athletes competing in over 1,500 bouts to claim one of the 80 titles up for grabs!
“The upcoming Canadian Open Championships will break attendance records. Seeing so many athletes together is very encouraging for Canadian judo. I have to admit it’s a relief. We were a bit concerned about the effect the post-pandemic era would have on overall participation in sports, and more particularly in our discipline, across the country. The fact that there will be more judokas at next week’s event than there were before 2020 bodes well for the future!” explained Nicolas Gill, CEO and High Performance Director of Judo Canada.
Following last year’s resounding success, the organizing committee, composed of Judo Canada, Judo Québec and Tourisme Montréal, expects the spectators to be treated to a very high level of competition.
As per usual, the event will begin with the Kata sessions in three distinct divisions on Thursday morning. A few hours later, the Ne-Waza sessions will take place.
The judo tournaments, organized by age category, will begin on Friday. The first groups to compete will be the Veterans and the U18 athletes. This will be followed by the U16 and U21 groups on Saturday. On Sunday, the Open National Championships will conclude with the Senior competitions.
With so many of its members present, Judo Canada will take advantage of the opportunity to hold its 2022-2023 Annual Awards and Recognition Gala later that evening.
“The gala is our chance to highlight the essential contributions our members make toward the success of judo in Canada. The work of certain individuals will be officially recognized with prizes, but the purpose of the annual festive event is to thank the entire community,” concluded Gill.
For more information on the Open National Championships, click here.
The competitions will be live streamed on judocanada.tv.
