Montreal, August 12, 2018 – Canada didn’t add to its medal count on Sunday at the Budapest Grand Prix, but the national team rookie Shady El Nahas didn’t go unnoticed in the -100 kg category.

The Torontonian made his way to the third round before being eliminated by Swedish Martin Pacek, 21st on the world ranking. At 20 years old, El Nahas defeated Belarusian Mikita Sviryd, and Irish Benjamin Fletcher.

“A positive surprise in the day was the progression up to the third round of Shady El Nahas. Beating the World Ranked 44 and 10 opponents was definitely a good step in his preparation for the Junior World Championship in mid October,” commented the national team coach, Michel Almeida.

In the -90 kg category, Zachary Burt and Louis Krieber-Gagnon saw their day come to a quick end, both being defeated in their first bout.

After receiving a bye through the first round, Burt, ranked 21st, was defeated again, this time by British Max Steward, ranked 44th. Louis Krieber-Gagnon, 43rd on the ranking, was out after his first fight. The Montrealer lost against Slovak Milan Randl, ranked 117th.

“Burt and Krieber-Gagnon presented improved performances from the previous event, unfortunately these were not enough to bring them victories against their opponents,” explained their coach.

The Canadian team will be leaving Hungary with 4 medals. Earlier in the tournament, Ecaterina Guica (52 kg), Christa Deguchi (-57 kg), Kelita Zupancic (-70 kg), and Arthur Margelidon (-73 kg) each won a bronze medal.

“With four medals and three finalists in an Olympic Qualification Grand Prix, this has been a successful event for the Canadian judo. Some of our athletes have produced repeated high levels of performance and showed that they are ready to go through the challenging and long process that the Olympic Qualification represents,” said Michel Almeida.

For those who didn’t perform as well as expected on the mats, Almeida thinks their experience will be a motivation for what’s to come. “All in all, we leave Budapest with a good level of confidence for the next event, the year’s main goal, the World Championship.”

After a few days off, the national team will be back to train at the national centre, in Montreal, for the last stretch before Worlds, presented in Baku, in Azerbaidjan, on September 20-27.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada

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