Gauthier-Drapeau and Beauchemin-Pinard Halted in Second Round
26 June 2023
A Much Appreciated Last-Second Victory for Antoine Bouchard
3 July 2023
Louis Krieber-Gagnon (-90 kg) was the only representative of the country to score a victory at the conclusion of the Grand Slam of judo of Ulaanbaatar, Sunday, in Mongolia. The other Canadian in action, Kyle Reyes (-100 kg), was defeated in the second round after taking advantage of a first-round bye. Both did not get a ranking.
This contrasts with Friday, when the country monopolized the first two steps of the women’s under 57 kg podium thanks to the performances of Christa Deguchi and Jessica Klimkait, gold and silver medalists respectively.
National coach Antoine Valois-Fortier affirms the presence of the Canadian team in the Mongolian capital was a good thing, even if the athletes have not had much rest since the World Championships that were held in early May.
“It was part of my thinking (about whether or not we were going to this tournament), but it allows us to follow up with a good block of training to prepare for the Masters tournament at the beginning of August. It was important for me to get back in the swing of things and break the ice here before the Masters, so as not to have too big a break from competitions. […] Now, we are starting a big training phase and we will have a few things to work on in the coming weeks. »
Louis Krieber-Gagnon started the day with a win over Mongolia’s Putsagtseren Ganbaatar. Things then got tougher in the next round against Hungarian and 2021 Junior World Champion, Peter Safrany, who ended his day with a bronze medal.
“It was tight. I had my chances to score, as he had his”, acknowledged the athlete from Montreal, referring to his last duel.
“It could have gone either way. There are situations where I could have been more opportunistic. […] It’s all part of the game. Nevertheless, I’m coming back with a few things to work on for the next few tournaments. »
In his second-round fight, Kyle Reyes fell short against Poland’s Piotr Kuczera via waza-ari.
“His opponent had a good game plan, he neutralized him well and Kyle did not know how to express himself,” analyzed his coach.
Kuczera was defeated in one of the two bronze-medal finals and finished his day in fifth place.
Canada’s top judokas will return to competition at the Masters tournament that kicks off August 4th in Budapest, Hungary.
