May 21, 2019

SUCCESSFUL NATIONALS IN EDMONTON

Edmonton, May 19, 2019 – Sunday was the third and last day of the Canadian Open Judo Championships in Edmonton, Alberta. The Butterdome of the University of Alberta saw the senior athletes battle it out to win the remaining national titles.

This year’s edition saw numerous young athletes having success in an older category, like Isabelle Harris (-63 kg), from Abbotsford Judo Club, in British Columbia. “It wasn’t easy today, because it was my second day fighting, so I was sore and tired,” she said. “I had a little more trouble getting into it at the beginning, but the level was about the same as yesterday, and it went better as the day went by.” It was a fifth participation at Nationals for the 17-year-old, but a first experience in the senior category. She’s planning on going home to rest and heal minor injuries before the Canada Cup in Montreal at the end of June. “I’m going to have to keep working hard in training, because winning doesn’t mean I’m perfect, and it doesn’t mean that they won’t win next time!”

Gabriel Juteau, from Club de judo Boucherville in Quebec, won the honours in the -73 kg category. This was a very satisfying medal, knowing that he switched from -66 kg to -73 kg this year. “I had won the gold medal in senior a few years ago, but in -66 kg. I was very happy to see I could still win in -73 kg,” he commented. “I started off a little slow, but it’s always like that, and the final was the fight I felt the best and the most confident.”

After two days in second place, the province of Quebec was finally able to catch up with Alberta and be first on the medal count once again. Their lead is slowly getting smaller, but for now, their crown is still intact.

Go to JUDOCANADA.TV to see the complete results of the tournament.

The Organizing Committee, a Well-Oiled Machine

Kelly Thornton, president of the Edmonton Organizing Committee, was very happy and proud to see the results of his team’s hard work over the last few days. While he was a member of the organizing committee in Calgary for the past 3 years, it was his first time as the president, and he feels lucky to be surrounded by such a fantastic team.

“Some members of the committee were also there for Calgary, so we were able to use all their feedback to improve the experience in Edmonton. The venue was great, the lighting allowed for some phenomenal pictures, the bleachers were close to the mats so the crowd could really see all the action. I’ve heard nothing but good comments from everyone during the weekend,” he said.

“The amount of work accomplished by the committee members and the volunteers is impressive. It’s a big event, and we always want to add new things to make it a little better than it was before. We had some core members from last year’s committee who also were here in Edmonton, especially Allan Sattin. He was the Chair in Calgary, and he was a great help to fix any issue we might have. We also had a really good working relationship with Judo Canada. They have been really busy working for the Montreal Grand Prix, but they were still available for us whenever we needed them, and they really stepped up to the plate when they got here.”

The Canadian Open Judo Championships will be in Edmonton for another two years, with the next edition being on May 14-17, 2020.

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Written by Sarah Mailhot for Judo Canada

Information:
Patrick Esparbès
Chief Operating Officer
(514) 668-6279
P.ESPARBES@JUDOCANADA.ORG

By judoab Feature, News, Uncategorized

May 18, 2019

Team Alberta U18 & Veterans Find the Podium on Day 2 of Nationals

Edmonton, May 17, 2019 – The second day of the Canadian Open Judo Championships saw the U18 and Veteran athletes battle for more national titles today at the University of Alberta Butterdome. Alberta had an excellent day on the mats resulting in many podium appearances.

Congratulations to the following athletes for their outstanding performance today:

Veterans:

M1M2 -66Kg
Rashad Chin – Gold

M1M2 -81Kg
Kyle Crowell – Gold

M3 -81Kg
Marc Saint-Martin – Bronze

M3M5 -66 Kg
Erwan Goasdoue – Silver
Tim Takahashi – Bronze

M3M4
Simon Tremblay – Silver

U18 Female:

F44Kg
Evelyn Beaton – Gold
Brynn Iwaasa – Silver

F48Kg
Ema Tesanovic – Gold

F57
Kiera Westlake – Gold
Angie Grisales – Bronze

F63
Greta Goasdoue-Wallace – Gold
Teyana Roberts – Silver
Emma Caldwell – Bronze

M46
Caleb Demaere – Gold
Troy Gallant – Bronze

M50
Douglas O’Brien – Silver

M60
Brady Dixon – Bronze

M66
Seth Nobert – Bronze

M73
Brett Dudar – Bronze

After two days of competition Team Alberta currently has a combined 25 medals including 9 Gold, 6 Silver, 10 Bronze. The action will continue tomorrow morning starting with U16 and U21 at 9:00AM.

By judoab Feature, News, Uncategorized