British Columbian Charlize Isabelle Medilo stood out at the Cadet World Judo Championships, where she finished seventh in the under 48 kg category on Thursday in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Posted yesterday at 3:01 p.m.
After getting a bye in the first round, the young woman signed two straight ippon victories over representatives from Kazakhstan and the Netherlands. Once in the quarter-finals, when she was opposed to Luca Veg, the Canadian was determined to win, as the Hungarian had defeated her a short time ago in a European Cup tournament. Medilo finally bowed to Veg who inflicted two waza-ari on her.
All was not lost for the Canadian who advanced to the repechage where her opponent was Nandin-Erdene Myagmarsuren of Mongolia. This had the upper hand and continued its course towards the third step of the podium.
“This year in cadets, Charlize has been very consistent at all of her tournaments. Today (Thursday), she was super determined to get her hands on a medal, because she has never won one on the international scene, even if she has always come close,” explained Canadian coach Alexandre Émond, adding that the athlete was disappointed with her result, but not with her performance.
“She almost only fought against lefties. It was a good day in general. »
Medilo is in her first year of international tournaments and the coach who was an athlete at the London Olympics (2012) believes she has a bright future ahead of her.
“Seventh place at the World Championships is good. She has great potential. […] She always makes good fights against the best. She’s still close to winning a medal, so that’s encouraging! »
The other Canadian in the running in this table, Ekaterina Danilkov, won by forfeit against the Angolan Eldmira Segunda who failed to meet the weight limit. In the next round, Danilkov defeated Hong Kong representative Suet Yiu Tang by ippon. The British Columbian then gave in to Frenchwoman Alyssia Poulange in the third round.
” [Contre Tang], it was a great victory on floor and once against the Frenchwoman who was ranked second, it was a little more difficult. The French was a little stronger physically. So it was difficult for Ekaterina to place her hands. »
The two Canadians who fought Thursday had a shorter day than their female compatriots. Raphael Gaanan (under 60kg) of British Columbia was defeated by Australian Jules Aibierti who won by waza-ari. In the under 66 kg table, Quebecer Matis Ganet was also defeated in his first fight by waza-ari, when he was opposed to Israeli Gal Kloda. The representatives of the country lost their match in extra time.
“It was super tight fights and I thought they would have had the upper hand,” continued Émond of his two proteges. “They had energy and they were dominating and in both cases they went on an overtime attack where they got countered and they lost. »
A big day awaits the Canadian team on Friday when seven of its representatives will be in action on the mats.