Montréal, March 31, 2024 – Ontario’s Shady ElNahas earned a third medal for Canada on the final day of the Antalya Grand Slam in Turkey. On Sunday, ElNahas was awarded silver in the under-100 kg category after forfeiting the final to Jorge Fonseca of Portugal.

Photo: IJF, Tamara Kulumbegashvili
Shady ElNahas

The Canadian would have much preferred to fight for glory against the Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist and 2019 and 2021 world champion, but an injury in the semi-final put his excellent run in jeopardy as the day neared its close.

The 26-year-old injured his ribs during his quick victory over Leonardo Goncalves pf Brazil. ElNahas, his coach Antoine Valois-Fortier, and his physiotherapist Tiffany Hunting then had to weight the pros and cons of his returning to the tatamis. They quickly determined it would be best to forfeit the match.

“With the Olympic Games only a few months away, we decided to be cautious. Shady injured his ribs at the World Championships in Doha [in May 2023], so we preferred to play it safe, to make sure there were no further complications. It may not seem like a big deal, but we didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks four months before the Olympics,” said Valois-Fortier.

On Friday, Alberta’s Christa Deguchi won gold in the under-57 kg category, and the next day, Quebec’s François Gauthier-Drapeau won silver in the under-81 kg division.

Today [Sunday], ElNahas secured his spot in the big final by defeating Leonardo Goncalves of Brazil by ippon in the semi-final, which only lasted 18 seconds. Earlier, he had dispatched of Louis Mai of Germany, Toma Nikiforov of Belgium, and Aleksandar Kukolj of Serbia, in that order, to move into the final four.

He won all of his matches by ippon.

“He fought like the Shady we know, taking advantage of all his strengths, including his hip manoeuvres. You can tell he’s getting his confidence back, which is great to see. In the semi-final, he made a superb throw for the ippon. It was spectacular!” added the coach. “It was a tough category today. Our main objective this season is the Olympic Games.”

In the same weight class, Ontario’s Kyle Reyes was halted in the first round when he was defeated by Aaron Wolf of Japan.

Louis Krieber Gagnon (-90 kg) ended the day with a 1-1 record. The Québécois ousted Cem Demirtas of Turkey by ippon, then promptly met the same fate at the hands of Daniel Nieto Trinidad of Spain.

“He didn’t fight badly, but there are some tactical elements we’ll have to look at,” said Valois-Fortier.

The only Canadian woman in action on Sunday was Ana Laura Portuondo-Isasi, who lost her only bout of the day in the under-78 kg category to Adiyasuren Amarsaikhan of Mongolia, who won by waza-ari.

Over the next few days, the Canadian team will remain in Turkey to take part in a training camp, along with other international athletes.

“We have a great team right now, and if we can keep our athletes healthy, their minds clear, and their desire to win strong, we’ll be a force to reckon with at the Olympics,” concluded the coach.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada

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