A new competition format was on the program at the Para Judo Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, Brazil where visually impaired athletes and blind athletes were divided into two categories.
Posted at 8:35 p.m.
Quebec’s Priscilla Gagné (Montreal, QC) was one of the stars of this historic day by winning the gold medal in the -57 kg category.
The competition was held as a round robin where Gagne was perfect in three bouts, winning by ippon on each occasion.
“It’s special to participate in a tournament where there are no semi-finals or a final. The stakes seem different with each fight. The fact that we are all completely blind changes a lot of things. It’s a first and I feel that it brings a lot of positives,” mentioned Priscilla Gagné.
She first defeated the Brazilian Larissa Silva at the start of the day, before defeating Benilce Lourenco. The Montrealer won her third fight against Paula Gomez Martinez from Argentina.
“Everything went well, I remained calm all day. I didn’t feel any pressure and I wanted to study my rivals well. I was a little scared at the start of the day because I weighed 53 kg on the scale this morning, so I was one of the smallest. I listened to my coach Andrzej Sadej’s advice and everything went well,” added Gagné.
In the same category, Christina Mowatt (Burnaby, BC) was not as successful as her compatriot, who suffered three losses against the same opponents as Gagne.
Michelle Jorgensen (Kelowna, BC) will be the only Canadian in action Sunday in the over 63 kg category.
“I’m happy to see new judokas from all over the world, I’m happy for Christina who worked very hard. We’re going to cheer on Michelle tomorrow, we’re a great family here! concluded Gagne.
A fifth place for Joel DeMaere
Joel DeMaere (Montreal, QC) had the best Canadian result of the day finishing fifth at the European Open in Cluj-Napoca, Romania in the under 60 kg category.
The Quebecer’s day got off to a good start with a win over Germany’s Alessio Murrone in the first round. However, the task was going to be difficult in his next encounter when he had to face Nazir Talibov of Azerbaijan. Talibov eventually got the better of DeMaere and went on to win the gold medal.
“Joel was excellent in his first fight, but his opponent from Azerbaijan was very solid against him afterwards. He controlled the fight from start to finish despite Joel’s best efforts to come from behind. He felt the punches coming, but he couldn’t block it,” said coach Janusz Pawlowski.
The 20-year-old judoka was able to recover in the repechage, however, where he beat Romanian Alexandru Matei from the start to qualify for a fight for a bronze medal. The Taiwanese Chong-You Lin however had the upper hand over DeMaere who ended the day with a fifth place.
“The last fight was expedited since his opponent went all out. I think Joel could have offered better opposition. He was very good in his two wins, but there is still work to be done,” added Pawlowski.
In -66 kg, Hakim Chala (Montreal, QC) has a record of one win and one loss. He beat in the first round Miad Nosrati who fights with the International Judo Federation refugee team. Chala then saw his day’s work come to an end against Azerbaijan’s Elchin Huseynov.
“Hakim started the day strong in his first fight, but he seems to have been surprised against the judoka from Azerbaijan. Our athletes will gain experience with future competitions. There is something positive that comes out of this day, but also several aspects to work on,” noted the coach.
Justin Lemire (Rawdon, QC) was unable to taste victory in Romania as he was defeated in his first fight against Germany’s Alexander Bernd Gabler in the under 73 kg category. .
Like Lemire, Isabelle Harris of Montreal (-63 kg) lost in her first round match against Germany’s Malin Fischer and did not obtain a ranking. A neck injury seems to have affected the Quebecer during her fight.
The Cluj-Napoca European Open will continue on Sunday as Keagan Young (-90kg), Alexandre Arencibia (-90kg), Ian Ryder (-100kg), Coralie Godbout (-78kg) and Adriana Portuondo-Isasi ( +78 kg) will be the Canadians in action.