Long-Awaited Gold Medal for Lasha Tsatsalashvili!
9 March 2024
Amélie Grenier, Judoka-of-all-Trades
15 March 2024
On the heels of Lasha Tsatsalashvili’s gold medal performance in the under-73 kg category yesterday, Canada’s athletes stormed the podium on the final day of the Junior European Cup in Podgorica, Montenegro. With a haul of four medals on Sunday, including two gold, Canada climbed to the top of the medal standings. In addition, three other Canadians finished in fifth place this weekend.
In the big final, Turmel quickly dispatched of Greece’s Maria Eleni Gogua by ippon after only 30 seconds of combat, to clinch the gold medal.
“Marie-Lune had a great day. I’m very proud of her. She paid close attention to my instructions during her fights. She really stuck to her game plans, and that’s what made the difference. Marie-Lune had a lot of difficulty with the Greek girl in the pre-competition training camps, but she was able to beat her when it counted!” said Canadian coach Sasha Mehmedovic.
In the same weight category, Heidi Quach lost her first match to Gogua, but bounced back in the bronze medal final to defeat Simic.
Evelyn Beaton was the third Canadian female in action in Podgorica on Sunday. In the under-52 kg division, she advanced to the big final after beating Laurine Gashi of Kosovo and Mina Gacic of Serbia in back-to-back bouts. In the final, the Albertan gave her all against Poland’s Kinga Klimczak, but it was the latter who prevailed in overtime.
“Evelyn came so close! She clearly could have scored an ippon in the final, but the referee counted it as a waza-ari. She made a slight error in overtime, which allowed the Polish girl to score the winning point. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for Evelyn,” said Mehmedovic.
On the men’s side, John Jr Messé A Bessong (+100 kg) also landed at the top of the podium today. After receiving a first-round bye, the judoka from Laval bested Mateja Borojevic of Serbia in the semi-final before defeating Stefan Kovinic of Montenegro to conclude his day’s work.
“Last week, John won bronze. This week, he was absolutely determined to win gold. The crowd was very noisy during the final, but John stayed focused, and that worked to his advantage. It was excellent preparation for the Junior World Championships, which he’ll be competing in,” concluded the coach.
In the under-81 kg category, Tigran Kryvytskyi finished fifth with a record of three wins and two losses. Faniry Michael Andriamanana ended the day with one win and two losses.
