Montréal, July 4, 2026 – Canadian judokas will be taking home two medals after the opening day of the Prague, Czech Republic, European Junior Cup.

Québec’s Anes Mati (-66 kg) had a very notable performance, winning silver in his first-ever junior competition in Europe.

“As a cadet, he’s younger than everyone else—and he came here without any fears. He’s a surprising and very explosive athlete, so he used his strengths to make it all the way to the final,” noted his coach, Antoine Bouchard.

After an impressive run, the young judoka lost his final match of the day to Oleksandr Martynchuk (Ukraine). Earlier Saturday, Mati demonstrated his prowess with series of convincing victories, winning his first three matches by ippon. Mati then secured his spot in the final with a yuko victory over Preslav Nikolov (Bulgaria) in the semifinals.

“Unfortunately, he made a few tactical mistakes in the final bout, but all in all, it was a great experience for him. He was on the tatami in a lot of matches today, so we were really able to see that he’s one of our top prospects,” said his coach happily.

Carla Van Zyl: consistency in action

On the women’s tatami, Carla Van Zyl (-63 kg) and Charlie Thibault (-70 kg) – ranked second and fourth, respectively, in the overall standings of their weight class – both reached their bronze medal bouts. Van Zyl secured a victory over American Emily Daniela Jaspe, whom the Canadian defeated with a yuko scored in the opening seconds of overtime. Van Zyl will head home with a medal in her luggage.

The British Columbian kicked off the tournament with three consecutive wins, before losing in the semifinals to Tao Orimo (Japan). Orimo was able to secure the victory with an ippon with roughly one scant minute remaining in the match, and thus Van Zyl was sent to the bronze medal match.

“Above and beyond her performance today, you could tell she was comfortable overall, and by way of her victories. Even during her semifinal, she looked great,” commented Antoine Bouchard. He also highlighted Van Zyl’s consistency, noting that out of a possible four medals in Europe since the start of the year, she’s already won three. “That’s one of the great things to take away from this as well,” Coach Bouchard enthused.

In terms of Thibault’s judo score card, she was sadly not able to match her teammate’s performances. In the bronze medal match, Brazil’s Clarisse Vallim unfortunately dashed the Québec judoka’s medal hopes by scoring an ippon late in the bout.

In the semifinals, Thibault yet again faced a similar scenario. Matched with Giorgia Grassi (Italy) the Canadian watched as her opponent scored a second yuko with just seconds left in the match, putting victory out of reach. As a result, the Quebecer finished the day in fifth place, with a record of two wins and two losses.

“She (Thibault) got off to a good start today, beating two strong opponents – but she lost a very close match against the Italian in the semifinals. It was an opponent she had lost to a few months ago, so sadly she wasn’t able to get her revenge. In the bronze medal match, it was pretty much the same story, an opponent she knew well and had already lost to before. Honestly, it was a pretty tough match,” said Antoine Bouchard.

Xavier Brouillette (-60 kg), Maia Thomson (-63 kg), Fahd Fithane (-73 kg), and Frédérique Lavigne (+78 kg) all had days that came to an end in the repechage. Thomson posted the best record of the four, with two wins and two losses. Brouillette, Fithane, and Lavigne, finished the day each with a record of one win and two losses.

Loic Beaton (-60 kg), Denis Neyolov (-66 kg), Missy Jen Dorval Mbele (-70 kg), and Machiel Talbot (-73 kg) were all eliminated after their first bouts on the tatami.

Stayed tuned, because Team Canada isn’t done yet! Several more Canadian judokas will step onto the tatami Sunday for the second and final day of competition in Prague.