Team Canada Golden in Lima

Canadian judokas swept the podium Saturday at the Lima Cadet Panamerican Cup (Peru). All five Canadians reached the finals, and better still, all five won gold medals in their respective weight classes.

Amir Temirbaev (-60 kg) and Anes Mati (-66 kg) both faced and surpassed three opponents, and then went on to claim the top spot on the podium. Temirbaev’s wins were decisive in his first two bouts: in under 90 seconds he was victorious. He capped off his day by defeating Mexico’s Arath Cruzalta Apodaca in the final.

Mati had a similar day to his teammate, defeating Peru’s André Zegarra Gruichard and Mexico’s Efrain Carrillo Paredes before the end of regulation time, and then moving on to face Peru’s Yesus Perea Vallve in the final.

In the Under 55 kg division, Gabrieli Makhatadze received a bye in the quarterfinals before defeating Chile’s Guillermo Carrizo and the U.S.A.’s Sebastian Terain; these wins put yet another Canadian on top of the podium.

Then it was time for Matthew Molchanov (-90 kg) and Franck David Moussima Ewane Elouti (+90 kg) to take their turn on the tatami. Both won their first matches in the round-robin stage of their respective weight classes, and went on to win their finals. Molchanov defeated Chile’s Kenji Escrich, while Moussima Ewane Elouti defeated Andres De La Hoz (Chile), in the final battle.

Canadian coach Erika Miranda was very pleased with Team Canada’s performance, having expected nothing less than podium finishes on Saturday.

“Given the calibre of the competition here today, to me, this has almost been a training session for our athletes. It also remains an important step towards the World Championships. They dominated every one of their matches, and I’m pleased with the results,” she commented.

The five aforementioned judokas will be back on the tatami in Lima on Sunday, where they will compete in the Lima Junior Panamerican Cup. Stay tuned for more exciting judo action!

Carla Van Zyl demonstrates her grit

Carla Van Zyl showed exactly what she was made of Saturday at the Graz Junior European Cup in Austria. In the Under 63 kg division, Van Zyl suffered a loss in her second bout in the main bracket before moving on to the repechage. The latter was where Van Zyl truly proved her mettle, winning three straight matches to reach the bronze medal round.

However, the British Columbian’s struggles weren’t quite over yet: the Canadian had to face Brazil’s Manuela Maia, who had defeated her in the final of the Pan American Junior Championships less than a month ago.

The heated bout needed overtime in order to be settled, and ultimately, it was Van Zyl who emerged victorious thanks to a yuko.

Coach Antoine Bouchard noted that “She bounced back so well. Despite her loss earlier in the day, she did end up finding her rhythm and looked so comfortable during the repechage bouts. She stayed focused, took it one step at a time, one match at a time, and that’s what enabled her to make it to the podium.”

In the Under 73 kg division, Lowan Le Bris also fought several bouts in the repechage. After his loss to France’s Kassim Brosseau, the British Columbian defeated Azerbaijan’s Salim Sultanov, Georgia’s Luka Chkareuli, and Ukraine’s Roman Bankin before finally falling to Giorgi Givishvili (Georgia). The Canadian finished the day with a record of three wins and two losses.

“Honestly, Lowan deserved a little better; he was leading the bout against the French judoka, but a tiny mistake ultimately cost him the match. He did bounce back though, and went on to secure three wins in the repechage, which is quite exceptional,” added Bouchard.

Two Canadian women were in action on the tatami in the Under 70 kg division: Missy Jen Dorval Mbele won two of her four bouts, while Charlie Thibault won her first match against Dutch judoka Luca Jongstra, before losing in the next round to German Alica Thiele.

Denis Neyolov (-66 kg), also representing Canada, was halted after a single bout on Saturday in Graz.