Montréal, October 16^th, 2011 – After delivering a good first bout, Sasha Mehmedovic lost his second duel of the day in the under 66 kg class, Sunday, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, taking place in the United Arab Emirates.

Mehmedovic, 32^nd in the international standings, got his day off to a fast start by managing a waza-ari versus the Ukrainian Hevorh Hevorhyan, 39^th in the world.

“I had a good bout, I was under control. It’s always nice to win your first fight in decisive fashion,” the Quebecois pointed out.

His second fight against the Brit Colin Oates, ranked 28^th overall and 5^th at the last World Championships, was a lot closer. Oates would eventually gain the favor of the judges, winning the bout after overtime.

“It was a good fight, I battled hard but he was the better judoka today. In the eyes of the judges, he was more active. He had more scoring chances,” Mehmedovic explained.

“He’s a good judoka, the Canadian reiterated, who had once before beaten the Brit in 2009. He has a style that I have a hard time dealing with. I knew it was going to be difficult, and would have to work very hard.”

Even though he succumbed to a hardened opponent, Mehmedovic was still unhappy with his result and is counting on his next event, the Pan-American Games, to bounce back.

Frazer Will and Jolianne Melançon were also in action in Abu Dhabi, Sunday. Unfortunately, neither was able to classify.

Will, 29^th in the world in the under 60 kg category, was upset by Ali Khousrof of Yemen, ranked 63^rd, who scored an ippon in the final seconds of the five minute, regulation period.

In the under 57 kg class, Melançon, 22^nd in the world, saw the Moroccan Fatima Zhara Ait Ali, 47^th in the class, impose her will by scoring a waza-ari.

On Monday, Kelita Zupancic (70 kg), Nicholas Tritton (73 kg) and Antoine Valois-Fortier (81 kg) will ply their trade on the tatamis.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada