Shady El Nahas (-100 kg) and Marc Deschênes (+100 kg) both gave Canada a bronze medal on the final day of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam on Sunday in the United Arab Emirates.
El Nahas, fifth at the Tokyo Olympics, emerged victorious in his bronze medal match against Germany’s Falk Petersilka. The Ontarian sent a nice projection to his opponent, 22 seconds after the start of overtime, good for a waza-ari who secured him a place on the podium.
Despite his good ranking, the 23-year-old said he was disappointed with his performance of the day, he who was aiming for the gold medal and nothing else.
I’m really disappointed with my bronze medal because if I had won gold I would have been ranked number one in the world, which is obviously my main goal. I did not feel at the top of my game during the competition. That’s why I needed extra time to win.
Shady El Nahas
In the semifinals, he could not overcome the Russian and possible silver medalist Matvey Kanikovskiy and lost by ippon. In the previous round, ElNahas needed extra time to get rid of Uzbek Aklmurodbek Khudoyberdiez by waza-ari.
A less demanding bronze final for Deschênes
Marc Deschênes’ final clash was easier than that of his medalist compatriot. His Ukrainian opponent Yevheniy Balyevskyy did not show up on the tatami mat, which resulted in the 28-year-old Quebecois’ victory.
Shady El Nahas also had only good words for his teammate following his bronze medal.
“I’m really happy that Marc won a first medal in a Grand Slam. He comes from afar and he keeps improving. He will certainly be one to watch in the next few days, ”noted El Nahas.
Earlier, the Laval resident had gone through the draft where his victory by ippon at the hands of Frenchman Joseph Terhec had allowed him to fight for a bronze medal. The 28-year-old started his day with an ippon victory over an opponent from the United Arab Emirates and followed with an ippon loss to Romania’s Vladut Simionescu in the quarter-finals.
The only Canadian competing on Sunday, Coralie Godbout (-78 kg) was defeated in her only encounter of the day. She was defeated by Migle Dudenaite of Lithuania after a marathon bout that lasted over 11 minutes. She did not get a ranking.
Mohab El Nahas suffered the same fate in the men’s under 90 kg table, being defeated from the outset by a representative from Tajikistan.