Montreal, July 4, 2009 – Michael Popiel of Montreal and Nicholas Tritton of Perth, Ont., earned fifth place finishes in men’s 66 kilos and 73 kilos respectively for Canada’s top performances on Saturday at the Grand Slam judo tournament in Rio de Janeiro.

 

Popiel posted a record of one win and one loss.  He lost to David Larose of France.  “Larose scored a point at the midway point then focused on his defence.  Let’s just say it wasn’t the day’s most exciting bout,” said Canadian national team coach Nicolas Gill.

 

In the quarterfinals, Tritton faced Dirk Van Tichelt of Belgium, fifth at last year’s Olympic Games.  “There was no score at the halfway point,” said Gill.  “Nick made an attack and in his attempt to evade the move, Tichelt fell on him and pinned Nick.  We were hoping to have at least one judoka reach the semifinal and go for a medal.  But all our athletes lost to very good judokas.”

Jean-Philippe Gagnon may not have posted Canada’s best result but showed plenty of skill against one of the world’s best judokas.  Gagnon, now at 73 kilos, fell to Mansur Isaev of Russia, the eventual bronze medallist.  “The Russian is ranked number-two in the world and Jean-Philippe kept pace with him.  That shows we made the right decision to change his weight category,” said Gill, who added that Gagnon struggled to meet weight at 66 kilos which resulted in subpar performances.

 

Saskatchewan’s Frazer Will lost his opening bout and was eliminated in men’s 60 kilos.  With 15 seconds to go the match was still scoreless.  “Will’s opponent capitalized on a minor error,” said Gill.

 

As was the case for Will and Gagnon, Joliane Melançon of Blainville, Que., was not ranked.  She was 1-1 in women’s 57 kilos.  She lost to Mariana Barros of Brazil in the round of 16.

 

Canadians in action on Sunday are Amy Cotton and Catherine Roberge in 78 kilos and Kalem Kachur in 81 kilos.

 

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada