Montreal, August 27, 2009 – Nicholas Tritton of Perth, Ont., and Joliane Melançon of Blainville, Que., were both eliminated in the second round on Thursday at the world judo championships in Rotterdam. Neither received a ranking. In men’s 73 kilos, Tritton opened with a victory over Peter Scharinger of Austria before falling to Ki-Chun Wang of South Korea. Wang initially scored a Yuko and followed with an Ippon at the 3:22 mark. In the final, Wang defeated Chol Su Kim of North Korea for the gold. ‘’It wasn’t an easy bout, Nic was facing the strongest fighter in the category in the second round,’’ said Canadian national team coach Nicolas Gill, referring to Wang, the Olympic silver medallist who successfully defended his world crown. ‘’There was no scoring in the first 1:45. It was a good bout, Wang is stronger than Nic and he won all his bouts handily. Today Wang was superior to all his opponents.’’ In women’s 57 kilos, the 23-year-old Melançon opened with a victory over Nirupama Devi of India. She lost her next bout by Yuko to Malgorzata Bielak of Poland. ‘’The bout against the Pole was close and Jolianne grabbed the lead first with a Yuko,’’ said Gill. ‘’The Pole then tied the bout and scored another Yuko to grab a lead she would maintain until the end. It was very close. For her first world championships, it’s a fine performance for Joliane. With a bit more experience, she has the potential to regularly beat the other women at this level.’’ In the final, Morgane Ribout of France defeated Telma Monteiro of Portugal for the gold medal. Kalem Kachur competes in men's 81 kilos of Friday. As was the case for his compatriots Sergio Pessoa on Wednesday and Tritton, Kachur has a tough draw and opens against European champion Ivan Nifontov of Russia. Canadians in action this weekend are Amy Cotton in women’s 78 kilos, Scott Edward in men’s 100 kilos and Alexandre Émond in men’s 90 kilos. -30- Audio clips available at : www.sportcom.qc.ca/Extraitsaudio/tabid/297/Default.aspx. Written by Sportcom (info@sportcom.qc.ca) for Judo Canada (www.judocanada.org)

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