Montreal, September 26, 2009 – Canada won five medals at the U.S., Open judo competition in San Jose which ended Saturday.  Robert Edward of Calgary and Marie-Ève De Villers-Matte of Boucherville, Que., led the way with gold medal performances in their respective events.

 

Edward, successfully defended his U.S., Open title in men’s 90 kilos.  On Friday night, he defeated Jose Camacho of Venezuela in the final.

 

‘’Robert didn’t have an easy draw but he delivered the goods,’’ said Canadian national team coach and high performance director Nicolas Gill.  ‘’His bout against the Venezuelan was very close and was decided in the last seconds.’’

 

In the same category, Quebec’s Dyliver Sheykhislyamov, who lost to Edward in the semifinal, defeated Ontario’s Lukasz Mozden for the bronze.

 

 

While Edward was a favourite, De Villers-Matte’s gold in women’s 70 kilos was a surprise.  The junior-aged judoka defeated Kathleen Sell of the U.S., in the final for her first international victory.

 

‘’We knew she had the potential to win but still this is quite an achievement,’’ said Gill.  ‘’She works hard and is progressing well.  She dominated her opponents and had a great weekend.’’

 

In the semifinal, De Villers-Matte defeated Ontario’s Aneta Mozden.  ‘’It was her best victory of the tournament and the turning point for her in the competition,’’ said Gill.  ‘’To beat Aneta, a multiple medallist at the national and North American level, gave her a lot of confidence for the final.  She had never beaten a judokas of that calibre before.’’

 

Mozden went on to win the bronze defeating Lisa Nakajima of B.C., in the final round of the repechage.

 

On Saturday, Quebec’s Marie-Pier Gauvreau won the bronze in women’s 48 kilos for Canada’s fifth medal of the competition.

 

Canadian results at  US Open:

 

NR = not ranked