Montreal, October 17, 2018 – Canadian judokas Joel Demaere and Virginia Nemeth didn’t get a ranking on Wednesday during the Junior World Championships in Nassau, in the Bahamas.

Fighting in the -60 kg category, Joel Demaere started off with a victory against Swede Alexander Dahlin.

“Joel had a good first fight. He won near the end of regulation time with a Tai-Otoshi and scored a waza-ari. He was in control during the whole fight, and when he got a chance, he scored,” explained Canadian team coach Jean-Pierre Cantin.

Demaere’s day ended in the next round, after facing Russian Ramazan Abdulaev, ranked 6^th in the world in the junior category. The 17-year old held its own before being eliminated by waza-ari.

“The second fight was harder. He fought, but his opponent’s strength and power made the difference. He had 2 shidos because he got out of the mats, and during the last sequence, he was forced to try a weak attack to avoid a third penalty and being disqualified, and that’s how his opponent countered him. I’m proud of him, he gave it all he had,” added the coach.

On the women’s team, Albertan Virginia Nemeth had a controversial loss after her first-round fight in ‑48 kg. Facing Moroccan Aziza Chakir, the 19-year-old was declared the winner after her opponent got a third penalty with 2 minutes left to the bout. However, the decision was overturned, and both athletes went back on the mat to continue the fight. Nemeth, ranked 22^nd in the world, was then defeated by ippon by Chakir.

“A third shido was given to the Moroccan, but that decision was overturned by the officials’ table. Virginia could have won, but she missed part of her preparation after a series of injuries,” said Jean-Pierre Cantin.

On Thursday, Canada will be represented by Marie Besson (-52 kg), Camélia Pitsilis (-57 kg), Jacob Valois (-66 kg), Mitchell Wolfe Markwat (-66 kg), Constantin Gabun (-73 kg), and Keagan Young (-73 kg) on the mats.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
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