Montreal, February 8, 2009 – It was a short tournament for Canadian judokas this weekend at the Paris Ile-deFrance Grand Slam Tournament.  None lasted long enough to earn a ranking.

 

‘’We didn’t have great performances,’’ said Canadian coach Nicolas Gill.  ‘’In judo, this Paris tournament ranks third in stature behind the Olympic Games and world championships.’’

 

On Sunday, Marylise Lévesque of St-Pacôme, Que., faced two Dutch combatants in women’s 78 kilos.  She won opened with a victory by Ippon over Claudia Zwiers then lost the same way to Marhinde Verkerk, the eventual silver medallist.  In the same category, Catherine Roberge of Beauport, Que., lost her opening bout to Kaleima Antomarchi of Cuba and was eliminated.

 

In men’s 81 kilos, Kalem Kachur of Montreal defeated Damian Haldi of Switzerland in his first bout then lost by Ippon to Jae-Bum Kim of South Korea with one second left on the clock.

 

‘’We couldn’t necessarily expect miracles,’’ said Gill.  ‘’Kalem faced the Olympic silver medallist in his second bout and Marylise also battled a very solid athlete.’’

 

Alexandre Émond of Varennes, Que., and Scott Edward of Calgary were eliminated in the first round in men’s 90 kilos and 100 kilos respectively.  Émond lost to Meheddi Khaldoun of France and Edward fell to Nodar Metreveli of Georgia.

 

‘’Alexandre and Scott produced solid first round bouts despite losing,’’ said Gill.  ‘’With no repechages in this tournament, you couldn’t afford to make mistakes.’’

 

On Saturday, Nicholas Tritton of Perth, Ont., lost his first bout by decision to Yasuhiro Awano of Japan in men’s 73 kilos. 

 

In men’s 60 kilos, Frazer Will of Star City, Sask., was eliminated by Ippon at the 28 second mark by Georgiy Zantaraya of Ukraine.  ‘’It wasn’t an historic bout,’’ said Gill, who didn’t agree with the officials’ call.

 

In men’s 66 kilos, Sasha Mehmedovic of North York, Ont., lost in the second round to Hassan Yilmaz of Turkey.  The Canadian defeated Hamza Belgaid of Morocco by Ippon in the first round.

 

Michal Popiel of Montreal was also bounced in the second round falling to two-time Olympic medallist Masato Uchishiba of Japan.  He opened with a victory over Kelaga Cha of China.

 

Most of the Canadian judokas plan to stay in Europe and compete at World Cups next weekend.  The women head to Vienna and the men to Budapest.