|
 Canada’s Guillaume Perrault wins gold
Montreal, November 15, 2009 – Guillaume Perrault of Longueuil, Que., showed he belongs with the best as he won the gold medal in men’s 81 kilos at a World Cup judo competition in Apia, Samoa. It was only Perrault’s third career participation at a World Cup.
Perrault defeated, in order, Ben Zellner of Australia, Frank Stowers of Samoa and Brent Iverson of Australia, all by Ippon, then in the final, 2004 Olympic bronze medallist Flavio Canton of Brazil. It was a hotly contested final and Perrault earned some revenge on the Brazilian who had beaten him in the first round at a World Cup at Belo Horizonte in Brazil this past July.
“At the start of the bout, I didn’t have the advantage,” said Perrault. ‘’He was controlling my hand. I decided to change tactics and that turned things around for me and I scored some points. Canton is considered to be strong low so I tried to avoid being in that situation. Each time we went to the mat, he would come close to catching me off guard but I was able to defend myself.”
It’s quite an improvement for a judoka who stepped on a World Cup podium for the first time.
‘’Even though the field wasn’t as strong as at other World Cups there were several very good judokas in each category,’’ said Perrault. ‘’My training is paying off and I know I can do well when I persevere.’’
Joël Benoit and Anne-Marie Pettersen also win medals
Anne-Marie Pettersen of Saguenay, Que., took the silver in women’s 70 kilos and Joël Benoit of Quebec City added a bronze in men’s 66 kilos.
After a first round bye, Pettersen defeated Shanice Wiki of New Zealand and Sisilia Rasokisoki of Fiji. ‘’She was trailing before scoring an Ippon. It was a highlight,’’ said Perrault.
In the final, Pettersen lost to Yuting Tao of China.
Benoit lost in the semifinal to the eventual champion Alim Gadanov of Russia. In the bronze medal match, Benoit defeated Nicolas Gravier of France by Ippon. ‘’The match was tied but Joel managed his bout well,’’ said Perrault. ‘’His opponent was getting tired and he surprised him low with an unusual technique and it worked.’’
Olivier Aubin-Mercier of Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville (Qc) finished fifth in men’s 73 kilos. He lost his bronze medal match to Mansur Isaev of Russia.
The Canadian judokas return home Monday.
-30-
Writer : Émilie Bouchard Labonté - Sportcom
Back
|
