Montreal, June 14, 2009 – Junior-aged Stéfanie Tremblay of Quebec won the silver medal in women’s 57 kilos at the Tre Torri international judo tournament which concluded Sunday in Porto Sant'Elpidio, Italy.

Tremblay, the sole Canadian medallist this weekend, lost in the final to Monica Iacorussi of Italy.

‘’Stéfanie had never won an international medal so this is a surprise,’’ said coach Nicolas Gill.  ‘’However we were hopeful she would win one soon.  She was strong in the first half of the final before losing by Ippon.’’

The highlight for Gill was Tremblay’s second round victory over Gemma Howell of Britain.  ‘’Howell was the strongest in the field.  Stéfanie was being dominated but scored an Ippon on a counter attack.’’

The next best Canadian result on Saturday was posted by Justin Imagawa who was fifth in men’s 81 kilos with a 5-2 record.

‘’Justin had a great day,’’ said Gill.  ‘’Despite his lack of experience he advanced to the bronze medal bout and lost to Sirazhudin Magomedoc of Russia who is ranked in the world’s top-10.  To win five bouts in such a strong tournament is remarkable.  Justin works hard and loves to train.  He doesn`t have the most natural talent but he shows that with effort he can progress and reach a high level.’’

Laurence Côté was fifth in women’s 63 kilos with a 2-2 record.  ‘’She’s also a junior,’’ said Gill.  ‘’She’s made a giant leap competing in Europe and advancing to a bronze medal bout.  In that bout, she kept paced with the highly-ranked Pittmam from Britain.  Overall it was a satisfying weekend considering we fielded a young team with little experience.  We did better than expected.’’

Other results for the women : Eve Renaud-Roy was seventh in 52 kilos with a 1-2 record.  Myriam Lamarche of New Brunswick was 0-1 and not ranked.  On the men’s side, Scott McGrandle and Charles Breton-Leduc were not ranked in 73 kilos and 69 kilos respectively.

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Written by Sportcom pour Judo Canada

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