Montreal, December 5, 2009 – Kelita Zupancic of Whitby, Ont., and Amy Cotton of Montreal placed fifth in their respective categories on Saturday at a World Cup judo competition in Suwon, South Korea.

 

In women’s 70 kilos, Zupancic, ranked 28th in the world, won her opening two bouts against Surattana Thongsri of Thailand by Ippon and Shanshan Yu of China on points.

 

‘’My first match was an easy victory and I had a good bout against the Chinese woman,’’ said Zupancic.

 

Juliane Robra of Switzerland, the eventual gold medallist and ranked 10th in the world, defeated Zupancic in the semifinal. The Canadian then lost the bronze medal bout to Ye-Sul Hwang of South Korea, ranked 19th internationally.

 

‘’Against Robra I also had a good bout,’’ Zupancic said. ‘’I was losing on penalties and in the last minute she threw me to the mat. The South Korean also won by Ippon.

 

‘’I’m rather pleased and I gained more experience.’’

 

Marylise Lévesque of St-Pacôme, Que., lost her opening bout to Yu and was not ranked.

 

 

In women’s 78 kilos, Cotton, ranked 13th in the world, had a first round bye then defeated Kayla Harisson of the U.S., ranked 19th, on points.

 

In the semifinal, she lost to the eventual silver medallist Gyeong-Mi Jeong of South Korea, ranked 12th. Stéphanie Possamai of France, ranked sixth, then defeated Cotton in the bronze medal bout.

 

‘’Against the South Korean, I fought rather well, I was pleased,’’ said Cotton. ‘’Then against Possamai, I tried something but I didn’t react properly and fell. I’ve always struggled against her.

 

‘’I’m a little disappointed even though I lost to two super strong girls. I made some mistakes.’’

 

In men’s 81 kilos, Kalem Kachur of Montreal lost his opening bout to Uuganbaatar Otgonbaatar of Mongolia and was not ranked.

 

The seven Canadian judokas in action this weekend, head to Tokyo for next week’s Grand Prix.

 

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