Montreal, May 10, 2009 – Catherine Roberge of Quebec City won the bronze medal in women’s 78 kilos on Sunday at the Tunis Grand Prix judo tournament held in Tunis, Tunisia. Kelita Zupancic of Whitby, Ont., was fifth in women`s 70 kilos while in men’s 90 kilos Robert Edward of Calgary lost his opening bout to Zviad Gogotchuri of Georgia and was eliminated. Roberge received a first-round bye and awaited the winner of the match between Lucie Louette of France and Mergheni of Tunisia. Louette won the match and the southpaw was considered a major opponent for Roberge. Her coach Patrick Roberge stated: ‘’Catherine controlled the bout and Louette was assessed three penalties which was enough for Catherine to win the bout and advance to the semifinals.’’ On the other side of the draw, Tomomi Okamura of Japan won her opening two bouts to also advance to the semis against Roberge. Okamura capitalized on her speed and threw Roberge to the mat twice to the win the bout at the three-minute mark. ‘’I should be satisfied with a medal but I’m disappointed I lost the third bout,’’ said Roberge, in her final World Cup competition this season. ‘’I needed to win my three bouts here to earn my carding. It’s disappointing. Without my carding, I lose $18,000 in annual funding for the next two years. In a way I am a victim of my own success. Being well ranked I got a first-round bye and, as is often the case, I wound up with a shortage of bouts. By changing categories this season (from 70 kilos to 78 kilos) I started the season with zero points.’’ ‘’The next couple of years will be harder than anticipated,’’ she said. ‘’I’m 27 and I’m giving myself until 30, which is after the next Olympics, to reach my career goals.’’ Roberge will compete in two weeks at the Canadian judo championships in Sherbrooke. Zupancic opened with a victory over Maroua Jabeur of Tunisia then lost to Gevrise Emane of France in the second round. Meanwhile at an under-17 tournament in Berlin, Étienne Briand was seventh while Nicolas Dibartolo didn’t rank in men’s 60 kilos. -30- Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada

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