Montreal, July 18, 2015 – Just days after winning silver at the Pan-Ams, Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard climbed the third step of the podium this Saturday at the judo Grand Slam in Tyumen, Russia.

In the fight for one of the bronze medals, the Saint-Hubert athlete defeated Italian Giulia Quintavalle by ippon after immobilizing her on the ground.

“This is a great medal and it adds precious points to my Olympic qualification process,” said the judoka, who is enjoying her post-Pan-Am podium momentum. “My grabbing was solid and I won my three bouts on the ground. This is the result of the hard work I’ve been doing to be more consistent in competitions.

Beauchemin-Pinard’s only defeat was the semi-final, a match she lost in overtime against Japan’s Tsukasa Yoshida, who would go on to beat Romania’s Corina Caprioru in the final match.

The Quebecoise won her first two matches of the day by ippon, against Senegal’s Hortance Diedhiou and Israel’s Camila Minakawa.

“Catherine has had some great results in the past few weeks, which should infuse her with confidence for the World Championships next month,” said coach Sasha Mehmedovic.

On the men’s side, Arthur Margelidon (Under 73kg) came very close to taking home a bronze medal as well. After beating Uzbekistan’s Sharofiddin Boltaboev and Ghana’s Emmanuel Nartey, the Montrealer succumbed to Russian Musa Mogushkov.

His victory in repechage against Mongolia’s Nyam-Ochir Sainjargal earned him a spot in the fight for the bronze against German Igor Wandtke. In this bout, Margelidon took two penalties, which tipped the scale in favour of Wandtke.

“The penalties happened fast, when I started to slow the pace,” said Margelidon. “After the first penalty, I veered off the game plan I had devised with my coach.” He also explained that even though he had just flown in from Toronto, he wasn’t affected by jet lag.

“Much to the opposite – it was easier for me to lose weight! I’m used to travelling, so jet lag is not an excuse for my low energy levels.”

“Arthur fought well and even disposed of the tournament’s favourite on his way to the bronze final,” analyzed Mehmedovic.

In the same weight division, Étienne Briand lost his only fight of the day by ippon to Japan’s Hiroyuki Akimoto.

Antoine Bouchard (Under 66kg) was also eliminated in his first fight of the day.

The tournament continues on Sunday, and Kelita Zupancic and Antoine Valois-Fortier are the Canadian athletes to watch out for.

Jessica Klimkait Gets Junior Silver

Meanwhile at the European Cup Juniors in Wroclaw, Poland, Jessica Klimkait fought her way to the final match in the Under 57kg class, but was eventually beaten by Shuri Tsukino. The Japanese athlete scored an ippon in mid-combat and walked away with the gold.

Before she snatched the silver medal in the final, the Ontario judoka had won four matches, all of them by ippon.

Bradley Langlois came in ninth in the Under 73kg, with a 3-2 log. Jasmin Boisvert also ranked ninth in the Under 66kg class, after two wins and two losses.

Gueorgui Poklitar (Under 66kg), 1-2, didn’t obtain a ranking position, and neither did Mackenzie Burt (Under 57kg), who lost both of her bouts.

Zacharie Cheng-Boivin (Under 55kg), Darren Elcock (Under 60kg) and Patrick Cantin (Under 73kg) didn’t rank either, after logging a 0-1 record each.

The tournament will conclude on Sunday.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada