Montreal, May 11, 2012 – Canada’s Alix Renaud-Roy (Under 70 kg), Ana Laura Portuondo-Isasi and Bishop Sommerfeld (Under 78 kg) and Guillaume Perrault (Under 90 kg) will be bringing home heavier suitcases with each of their bronze medals wins in their respective categories at the Judo World Cup in Miami Florida today, Friday.   

Equipped with a pass beyond the first round, Alix Renaud-Roy began today in round two of the Under 70kg class, and made quick work of American Samantha Bleier.  However the Quebec native was tripped up in the semi-final by Cuba’s Onix Cortes Aldama.  “Though Alix lost, it was a very tight match right up until the end, and the bout was decided on penalties,” analyzed coach Marie-Hélène Chisholm.

Relegated to the bronze medal round, the 19 year-old went on to battle and surpass fellow Quebecoise Sarah-Myriam Mazouz, and scored a spot on the podium plus a bronze medal for her efforts.  “Alix has made a lot of progress this year.  She is technically still a ‘junior’ athlete, but she’s able to compete with senior-level judokas.  She definitely had a solid day today,” added a contented Chisholm.

Ending the competition in fifth place, Sarah-Myriam Mazouz’s day saw her bested by Kathleen Sell in the second round.  The Canadian then rallied back in overtime to defeat Argentina’s Noelia Ponce, prior to facing compatriot Renaud-Roy.

Also on the tatami in the Under 70 kg, Yacinta Nguyen-Huu ended her day in seventh place.  In the second round against Cuban Onix Cortes Aldama, Nguyen-Huu was on the losing end; in the second overtime Nguyen-Huu was then bettered by Samantha Bleier.

Portuondo-Isasi Surprises!

The Under 78 kg category saw two bronze medal wins, courtesy of Quebec’s Ana Laura Portuondo-Isasi and Saskatchewan’s Bishop Sommerfeld.

Portuondo-Isasi and Sommerfled began their day with a bout against each other.  The match was won by Portuondo-Isasi, who then moved on to battle American Suzanne Rizek, but was subsequently halted by American judoka Kayla Harrisson and then Cuba’s Yalennis Castillo.  A record of two wins and two losses permitted the 16 year-old to earn the Quebec native a spot on the podium for the bronze.  “Ana Laura is the youngest competitor on the team, but despite her youth she continues to deliver surprises and has a great attitude. Today, she certainly demonstrated that with her medal win,” praised Marie-Hélène Chisholm.

After her defeat against Portuondo-Isasi, Sommerfeld lost her stride with further defeats at the hands of Yalennis Castillo and Kayla Harrisson, but then charged ahead to a win against Suzanne Rizek – enough to enable the Canadian to also step onto the podium for a bronze.  

A First For Perrault

On the tatami in the Under 90 kg category, in the first round Guillaume Perrault defeated Armenia’s Hovhannes Zakyan, then took on and beat American Jacob Larsen. The Quebec native saw his only defeat when matched with Cuba’s Asley Gonzalez in the semi-final, where the latter won by ippon.  Perrault came back from the loss and bested Serbia’s Dmitri Gerasimenko in the bronze medal round.  “Guillaume is still growing into this weight category, and yet today he won his first World Cup medal!  I think today’s performances will certainly give him confidence in upcoming competitions; today was overall very positive,” explained coach Chisholm.

Also in action in the Under 90 kg category, Quebec brothers Emin Sheykhislyamov and Dilyaver Sheykhislyamov were both eliminated in the first round.  Emin lost his first bout to American Andrew Hung, while Dilyaver saw his day come to an end at the hands of Russia’s Sergey Kozel.

Nedjo Sarenac – a competitor in the Under 100 kg category – finished seventh overall.  With a pass into the second round, Sarenac was outmatched by American Ajax Tadehara. In the first round of overtime, the Ontario native was again halted, this time by American Armen Babayan.

British Columbia’s Scott McGrandle, (Under 81 kg) was sadly shown the proverbial door during the first round, bested by Sweden’s Emil Edmar.

Canada’s judokas will return to the tatami on Saturday at the US Judo Open.

-30-

Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada