Montreal, March 1, 2009 – Amy Cotton of Judique, N.S., defeated Catherine Roberge of Beauport, Que., to win the bronze medal bout in 78 kilos Sunday at a women’s World Cup judo competition in Prague.  Roberge ranked fifth in the tournament.

 

Cotton opened with a victory then lost by Yuko to Yahima Ramirez of Portugal.  In the repechage, Cotton defeated Anastasia Matrosova of Ukraine by Waza-ari before facing Roberge.

 

Roberge opened with two wins.   She beat Natalia Kazantseva of Russia and Lucie Louette of France, both by Yuko.  Roberge then lost by Yuko to Heide Wollert of Germany in the semifinal.

 

“It is very rare that two Canadians face-off for a medal at such a high level international meet,” said Canadian head coach Nicolas Gill, who was pleased with their performances.  “In this instance we can’t take sides.”

 

“The Ukrainian that Amy beat has won a lot of World Cup medals,’’ Gill said.  ‘’Catherine defeated the Russian that had beat her a few weeks ago in Bulgaria.  It was a high calibre field.  Except for Amy’s first opponent there were no easy bouts.’’

 

Cotton and Roberge are having a successful European tour.  ‘’Amy has strung together three strong tournaments in a row,’’ said Gill.  ‘’And Catherine did well recently in Bulgaria and Germany.’’

 

On Saturday, Joliane Melançon of Blainville, Que., was the sole Canadian to be ranked placing ninth in 57 kilos posting two wins and a loss.  She defeated combatants from Kazakhstan and Slovenia before losing to Olympic champion Giulia Quintavalle of Italy.

 

‘’Joliane had a good tournament,’’ said Gill.  ‘’The Slovenian she beat was very strong and she performed well against the Italian.  You need opportunities to face the best to see where you stack up.  It was a close bout so that’s good for her confidence.  She knows what she needs to do to improve and win World Cup medals.’’

 

Laurie Whiltshire of Calgary and Bianca Ockedahl of Montreal were eliminated in their respective first round bouts.

 

Meanwhile at a men’s World Cup in Vienna, Kalem Kachur of Montreal lost by Ippon in the first round to Giorgi Baindurashvili of Georgia in 81 kilos.