Montréal, February 10, 2024 – Evelyn Beaton experienced a wide range of emotions on Saturday at the Győr European Open in Hungary, where she climbed onto the third step of the podium following a battle that was atypical, to say the least, and which proved that in some cases, the end matters more than the means.

Beaton, who was pitted against Anna Borodina of Ukraine in one of the two under-52 kg bronze medal finals, was declared the winner after only 30 seconds of combat, when her opponent used an illegal defensive technique.

The officials conferred for several minutes before declaring Borodina disqualified and, by the same token, confirming the Canadian’s victory.

“It only lasted 30 seconds, but it was a very strange fight! Evelyn remained patient while her opponent launched two rapid attacks. When Evelyn attempted to counter, the girls fell to the floor in a bizarre sequence, and the officials stopped the fight in order to review it. They ultimately declared the bout over, and Evelyn won,” explained coach Janusz Pawlowski, following the tournament.

“The outcome was so unusual that it took Evelyn quite a bit of time to feel satisfied with the result,” he added. “She would have preferred to continue the fight and further demonstrate her skills. Either way, she won, and she should be proud!”

Although the final outcome may have left Beaton hungry for more, the 19-year old performed well in her first few bouts of the day.

After receiving a first-round bye, the Albertan defeated Marharyta Miroshnichenko of Ukraine by ippon in a lengthy bout that went into overtime. A few minutes later, she edged out Helena Beyssac-Poulin of France by ippon to advance to the semi-final.

“Overall, Evelyn did very well in her first two fights. For the first minute, she may have been a bit too passive, but she turned things around at the right moment and went for the win. She did great.”

Beaton’s only slip-up occurred against Lea Metrot of France, who quickly won by ippon to advance to the big final, where she took top honours against Rebeka Keller of Hungary. Although Beaton found the loss hard to swallow, Pawlowski is confident she will come away from her first senior European Open with even greater self-confidence.

“It’s really going to build up her confidence. She’s still in the junior age group, and yet she managed to win a medal at a high level of competition. There are certain aspects of her judo that need work, but a lot of good will come out of this,” he concluded.

Isabelle Harris, the only other Canadian in competition on Saturday, was eliminated in the first round of the under-63 kg tournament when she lost to Natalia Kropsk of Poland, who later won the gold medal.

The action will continue on Sunday in Győr. Canadians Laurence Biron (-70 kg), David Popovici (-81 kg), and Keagan Young (-81 kg) will hit the tatamis.

Meanwhile, in Africa, Coralie Godbout will compete in the under-78 kg category at the Tunis Open.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada

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Patrick Esparbès
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