Isabelle Harris Charges Determinedly Into the Unknown
8 March 2024
Canada Closes Weekend at Top of Medal Standings
10 March 2024
Mission accomplished for Lasha Tsatsalashvili! The Canadian judoka stepped to the top of a Junior European Cup podium for the first time in his career on Saturday. Tsatsalashvili, who was feeling confident following his bronze medal performance last week in Sarajevo, won the under-73 kg gold medal in Montenegro this afternoon.
“It feels great to have won! After so many second-place finishes on this circuit, it’s awesome to finally have come in first. I’m really happy!” said Tsatsalashvili, who was up against Federico Bosis of Italy in his fourth and final match of the day. The 18-year-old clinched it with a solid ippon in overtime.
“I was really well-prepared, so I wasn’t nervous, and I felt good right from the start of the competition. I was very motivated to win this tournament,” he explained. He defeated Saban Diljaj of Serbia and Thomas Jackson of Great Britain in his first two bouts of the day, before ousting Christos Dimitriadi of Cyprus in the semi-final.
Tsatsalashvili very nearly had the chance to share the under-73 kg podium with two fellow Canadians on Saturday. In the same weight division, Félix Mercier-Ross and Artem Neyolov were in the running for bronze medals, but both finished the day in fifth place. Mercier-Ross lost to Darko Topalovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the bronze medal final and ended the day with a record of four wins and two losses. Neyolov won three bouts and lost two, including his late-day match against Dimitriadi.
Victor Dessureault lost his two fights of the day in the under-60 kg group, while Daniil Kremerman was halted after one in the under-66 kg category.
On Sunday, Tigran Kryvytskyi (-81 kg), Faniry-Michael Andriamanana (-90 kg), John Jr Messe A Bessong (+100 kg), Heidi Quach (-48 kg), Marie-Lune Turmel (-48 kg), and Evelyn Beaton (-52 kg) will all be in action in Montenegro.