In 12 participations, Kyle Reyes had climbed on the podium of a Grand Slam three times during his career, always in second place. On Sunday, he went all the way in Abu Dhabi to be crowned champion in the under 100 kg category. A remarkable tournament for the Ontarian, especially since his teammate Shady ElNahas accompanied him on the podium, bronze medal around his neck.
Posted at 1:30 p.m.
“I’m really happy to finally win a gold medal! said Kyle Reyes after the medal presentation. “My Worlds performance gave me a lot of confidence heading into the tournament, but my preparation hasn’t changed. »
The reigning world vice-champion in his category took advantage of a bye in the first round before defeating Colombian Francisco Balanta by ippon. He then beat Otabek Turaboev of Uzbekistan and Kazakh Nurlykhan Sharkhan to reach the semi-finals.
It was a victory signed by waza-ari against the Romanian Asley Gonzalez which allowed Reyes to access the grand final.
“I was stressed before the final. It was the first time I was going to face this opponent and I expected a tough fight, ”said Kyle Reyes, who was opposed to the Spaniard Nikoloz Sherazadishvili, world champion in 2018 and in 2021.
The two judokas each received a shido with 1 minute and 45 seconds left in the duel. Sherazadishvili was then disqualified following a projection deemed illegal, giving the title to the Canadian at the same time.
“I wanted to get used to his judo first and try to attack him, especially towards the end. I am happy with the result! Also, this is the first time that I have been on the Grand Slam podium with Shady. We did a good job and we want to continue this momentum. »
Shady ElNahas in bronze again
Bronze medalist in 2019 and 2021 in Abu Dhabi, Shady ElNahas also started this Grand Slam in brilliant fashion on Sunday, winning against Indian Avtar Singh and Dzhafar Kostoev of the United Arab Emirates.
The Canadian signed a third consecutive victory when his Danish opponent Mathias Madsen was disqualified during the quarter-finals. Injured to a knee on the sequence, ElNahas continued his journey in the semi-finals, where he bowed to Nikoloz Sherazadishvili, future silver medalist.
He competed against Elmar Gasimov for a bronze medal.
“With my injury, I was limited in my attacks, so I had to be smart during the fight. I had to use my brain more than my body! My coach Sasha Mehmedovic and my brother Mohab came up with a game plan and I followed it which led me to victory. We had to adapt and we found a solution. »
The representative of Azerbaijan was penalized on three occasions in this duel. The first two were received at the start of the fight, while the last was granted to him after 41 seconds of overtime.
“It’s a weird feeling to have three bronze medals in a row here in Abu Dhabi. We always hope to do better than at the previous tournament, so I would have liked to have a different color this time,” said the Ontarian, still happy to be on the podium alongside his teammate.
“I wasn’t surprised to see Kyle go to the final, I even thought I’d face him! Kyle and I fight in the same category, but we remain very good friends and I am happy to see a Canadian at the top of the podium”, he concluded.