Montreal, May 26, 2018 – Canada has won two more medals on Saturday at the Hohhot Grand Prix. Kelita Zupancic (-70 kg) and Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard (-63 kg) respectively won the silver and bronze medals in their category during the tournament in China.

“Another great day for Judo Canada! Judo Canada women’s team looked great these past two days of the competition. Many of them picked up valuable points in the opening competition of the 2020 Olympic Games qualification. I am very pleased!” said Sasha Mehmedovic, national assistant coach.

Credit: Sabau Gabriela

Zupancic Dominant

Zupancic ended the day with her only defeat. Netherlander Sanne Van Dijke won the gold medal by waza-ari.

“Kelita was focused and dominant throughout the day, but couldn’t find a solution for the judoka from the Netherlands,” said Mehmedovic.

During the competition, the judoka from Whitby won by ippon against Brazilian Maria Portela in the semi-final, and before that, she defeated Chinese Shao Nan, Australian Aoife Coughlan, and Swedish Anna Bernholm in the preliminary rounds.

Beauchemin-Pinard Determined

Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard, from Saint-Hubert, won by waza-ari against Brazilian Ketleyn Quadros to bring home the bronze medal.

Before that, the Quebecoise was defeated by ippon in the semi-final against Israeli Gili Sharir. In the preliminary rounds, she won by waza-ari against Russian Iana Poliakova and Mongolian Gankhaich Bold.

“Catherine showed true determination as she came back for the bronze medal after losing a very tight semi-final match,” concluded the national assistant coach.

Also fighting today, Stéfanie Tremblay (-63 kg) lost her first bout, while Antoine Bouchard (-73 kg) and Antoine Valois-Fortier (-81 kg) both had one victory and one defeat. None of them got a ranking.

Beauchemin-Pinard and Zupancic on the podium Credit: Sabau Gabriela

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
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