Montreal, April 22, 2018 – Priscilla Gagné (B1) finished in 5^th place at the first 2018 Parajudo World Cup in Antalya, in Turkey.

Fighting in the -52 kg category, the Granby native had a record of 2 victories and 2 losses.

She started strong by defeating 2 Paralympians who were qualified in Rio in 2016. She first won against Japanese Ayumi Ishi by waza-ari, before winning again, this time by ippon, against Ukrainian Ludmila Lohatskaya to reach the semifinal.

The semifinal fight was a close one, but the Quebecoise was defeated after 3 minutes in overtime against Azerbaijani Sevda Valieva, who won by ippon and went on to win a silver medal.

Gagné then lost again by ippon in the bronze medal fight against Korean Sohee Choi.

Her last 2 fights were fought against young judokas who have just been classified to compete in para judo.

“Priscilla again demonstrated that she is the best B1 judoka in her weight division, however, she is facing an increasing number of former able body stream athletes who are rendered eligible for the Paralympic stream in judo.”

“I believe I fought my best today. I’m really happy about three out of the four fights. Unfortunately, the last fight cost me the medal, but I’m really happy with my performance in each fight and I’ve definitely learned a lot.”

“I tried some new things today and they worked. I’m thankful for my coach and a great teammate helping me through the day.”

Ukrainian Inna Cherniak won the gold medal. Uzbek Sevinch Salayeva and Korean Sohee Choi finished in 3^rd place.

On the men’s side, Justin Karn (B2) was eliminated after his first bout. The judoka from Longueuil, injured with a thumb dislocation, was defeated by ippon by Spanish Borja Pahissa.

The 2016 Paralympic champion, Uzbek Sherzod Namozov, was crowned champion again today. Sergio Ibanez (Spain) won silver, and Seongjin Jang (Korea) and Orkan Garayev (Azerbaijan) won the bronze.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
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