Montreal, November 1, 2009 – Bianca Ockedahl of Montreal was the top Canadian at the Boras Open judo tournament in Boras, Sweden placing fifth in women’s 48 kilos on Saturday with a record of three wins and two losses. On Sunday, Charles Breton-Leduc of Trois-Rivières, Que., was ninth in men’s 60 kilos with a 1-2 record.

 

Ockedahl easily won her opening bout over Valentina Schauer of Austria scoring an Ippon at the 0:31 second mark. She lost her next bout to Nataliya Kondratyeva of Russia. In the repechage, Ockedahl defeated Ann Shiraishi of the U.S., in overtime. In her bronze medal bout, the 27-year-old Canadian was beaten by Lisa Kearney of Ireland.

 

In the same category, Marie-Pier Gauvreau of Quebec City was not ranked posting an 0-1 record.

 

‘’Even though we didn’t win any medals we are satisfied with our performances,’’ said Canadian national team coach Marie-Hélène Chisholm. ‘’Bianca had a very good tournament. She fought well and she was hungry for victory. She hadn’t performed this well in quite some time.’’

 

Chisholm was also pleased with Leduc.

 

‘’He earned his first victory in Europe at the senior level,’’ she said. ‘’And he did well in his other two bouts even though he lost them.’’

 

Other Canadian results in men’s competition: Justin Fumiya Imagawa of B.C., and Cole Hunt of Manitoba were both 1-1 in 81 kilos and 100 kilos respectively and were not ranked. Stefan Zwiers of B.C., and Olivier Aubin-Mercier of Quebec lost their opening bouts in 100 kilos and 73 kilos.

 

‘’For the others it was a valuable experience,’’ said Chisholm. ‘’Even though many arrived here feeling ill, they’ll have a week to recuperate and comeback strong next week in Finland. Many came here to gain experience and earn points for their national ranking.’’

 

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