‘’It was a very good final but I ran out of gas,’’ said Pessoa, the gold medallist here two years ago.  ‘’My opponent fought well and he won by Ippon in the fourth minute.  I’m satisfied but I really wanted that gold medal.  A win would have been worth a berth at the world championships.’’

 

Last fall, Pessoa grabbed the spotlight winning four consecutive tournaments: the U.S., Open, Rendez-Vous Canada, the Swedish Open and the Finnish Open.  But he suffered an arm injury last month.  He feels the reduced training probably affected his stamina this weekend. 

 

‘’The first three minutes were good and I made some solid attacks until I was thrown for a Waza-ari,’’ said Pessoa who is coached by his father Sergio Sr.  ‘’I tried to comeback but I was thrown again for a Waza-ari which automatically ended the bout.’’

 

Also on Saturday, Guillaume Cavalli lost his opening two bouts and was not ranked.

 

On Sunday, Antoine Valois-Fortier was the top Canadian placing seventh in 81 kilos.  He posted a 5-2 record.  In 66 kilos, Jean-Philippe Gagnon, Joel Benoit and Pierre-Alexandre Laforest all lost their opening bouts and were eliminated.

 

 

At the Belgium Open women’s tournament in Arlon, costly mistakes prevented a podium berth for Marylise Lévesque of La Pocatiere, Que., and Kelita Zupancic of Ontario.

 

In 78 kilos, Lévesque won her two round robin bouts to claim top spot in her group.  She followed with a victory over Anna Von Berg of Germany then lost to Iris Lemmen of the Netherlands in the quarterfinal.

 

‘’It’s too bad because I was dominating the bout,’’ said Lévesque.  ‘’But I made an average attack and was quickly pinned.’’

 

Lévesque was pleased to post a 3-1 record for the day.  ‘’It’s nice to win bouts,’’ she said.  ‘’I felt strong and confident.’’

 

After winning her opening two bouts, Zupancic seemed overconfident and was upset by Gaelle Possamai of France.  She beat Possamai twice last season.

 

‘’She was expecting an easy bout and didn’t focus properly,’’ said Canadian coach Jean-Pierre Cantin.  ‘’The French woman learned her lessons and adjusted accordingly.’’

 

Cantin was impressed with Myriam Lamarche of New Brunswick who posted a 3-2 record.  ‘’She is still a junior and underwent reconstructive knee surgery last year.  It was her first competition in a year.  She sparkled here this weekend.’’

 

Stéfanie Tremblay of Jonquiere and Ariane Bijould of Varennes competed in 75 kilos posting a 2-2 and 1-2 records respectively.

 

Alberta’s Laurie Wiltshire and Sabrina Baron of Jonquiere were 1-2 in 52 kilos and 70 kilos respectively.  Anne-Marie Pettersen of Jonquiere was 0-3 in 63 kilos.

 

The Canadians are at a training camp until Thursday then head to Paris for the Super World Cup.  There’ll be no leniency with the new rules in the sport.

 

‘’There is no repechage so you have to win all your bouts to advance to the medal round,’’ said Lévesque. 

 

 

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada