Montreal, September 25, 2018 – Canadian Kyle Reyes showed determination on Tuesday during the World Championships in Baku, in Azerbaidjan. The judoka, waiting for a surgery on his right knee, scored 1 victory and 1 loss in the -100 kg category.

“These are my fourth Worlds, and my goal was to win a medal before the surgery on my right knee for a torn anterior cruciate ligament,” explained the disappointed Ontarian.

The athlete, who won a silver medal at the Zagreb Grand Prix in July, first won by ippon against Neo-Zealander Jason Koster. “The first fight was pretty easy to win, but it was hard on my knee! I thought I could fight through the pain, like I did in Croatia, but it was worse. I couldn’t really stand on my right leg.”

Back on the mat for the second round, Reyes was up against Uzbek Mukhammadkarim Khurramov. The Canadian was defeated by ippon after a bout that went into golden score.

“I took all the bandages off my knee to make it more solid for the next fight. I wasn’t really tired, but I couldn’t do much with my knee.”

The judoka expects his recovery to last 6 months, and he won’t represent Canada for 7-8 months. According to him, this is the best moment to have the surgery, despite the Olympic qualification process being already started.

South Korean Cho Guham was titled the World Champion, and Georgian Varlam Liparteliani was the runner-up. Russian Niyaz Ilyasov and Mongolian Otgonbaatar Lkhagvasuren will be taking home the bronze medals.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
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