Montréal, December 8, 2024 – Not one, however two Canadians discovered themselves on the third step of the rostrum on Sunday on the Tokyo Grand Slam! And whereas François Gauthier-Drapeau (-81 kg) was spared from having to battle for his medal, Kyle Reyes (-100 kg) needed to wage a marathon battle for his.
Images Tom Taylor
Gauthier-Drapeau was set to face Particular person Impartial Athlete David Karapetyan in his remaining showdown within the Japanese capital, however Karapetyan failed to indicate up on the tatami, routinely securing the Québécois’ spot on the rostrum.
“My opponent harm his shoulder within the match earlier than ours. To be trustworthy, I’m very glad to simply accept the medal, however I might have appreciated to battle for it. It all the time feels a bit bizarre if you take your bows after which it’s instantly throughout. There’s one thing lacking,” defined Gauthier-Drapeau.
Earlier within the day, the bronze medallist notched up a decisive win over South Korea’s Woojin Choi earlier than dropping to Japan’s Sotaro Fujiwara, regardless of scoring the primary level of the match. Fujiwara ended his day on the highest of the rostrum.
Within the repechage, Gauthier-Drapeau bounced again with an extra time win over Japan’s Yoshito Hojo, to advance to one of many bronze medal finals.
“I managed my first bout just about completely. It went rather well. Towards Fujiwara, I scored the primary level fairly shortly, however then I misplaced management of the match. It was fairly disappointing. It’s as if I modified my preventing type and it ended up working towards me. I got here again fairly properly within the repechage, but it surely was a tense battle, particularly in extra time,” added Gauthier-Drapeau, who now holds seven bronze Grand Slam medals, and one silver.
“François was nice early within the day, in his first matches. However sadly, he misplaced to [Fujiwara], who later gained gold. In the beginning of that battle, [François] led the scoring, however he then misplaced his lead, and I believe he’s disenchanted about that. However his win within the repechage was a giant one,” stated Canadian coach Antoine Valois-Fortier.
In the identical weight class, Ontario’s Keagan Younger was restricted to just one bout in Tokyo, which he misplaced to Finland’s Eetu Ihanamaki within the first spherical.
At this time marked Gauthier-Drapeau’s return to the under-81 kg weight class. Lower than a month in the past, he gained gold within the under-90 kg class on the Continental Cup in Montréal.
“Taking place in weight after a number of months is all the time fairly powerful. I hadn’t fought within the under-81 kg division for the reason that Olympics. It’s painful, and it wasn’t simple, however I believe this confirms that under-81 kg is the suitable weight class for me,” stated the Québécois.
The dedication of Kyle Reyes
For Kyle Reyes, it took greater than ten minutes of fight to defeat Japan’s Koki Kumasaka and safe a bronze medal within the under-100 kg class.
“The bronze medal match was extraordinarily lengthy. It was very troublesome bodily, however [Kyle] managed the battle properly and ended up on the rostrum. He scored some good factors all day at present by demonstrating good method. It was an excellent event for him,” defined Valois-Fortier.
Picture Tom Taylor
Earlier, the Rio de Janeiro Olympian had overwhelmed South Korea’s Dohun Choi, earlier than dropping his quarter-final match to Japan’s Dota Arai, who additionally claimed a bronze medal on the finish of the day. The Ontarian secured his spot within the bronze medal remaining by defeating Enkhbayar Altanshagai of Mongolia.
Additionally within the under-100 kg weight class, Shady ElNahas gained his first bout of the day, earlier than bowing out to Kumasaka. ElNahas injured his ankle throughout that battle and subsequently determined to not transfer on to the repechage.
On the ladies’s facet, Coralie Godbout was handed the troublesome activity of dealing with Japan’s Kurena Ikeda within the first spherical. Ikeda gained the match, en path to her gold medal end.
Canada’s judokas will stay in Japan for a number of weeks to attend a coaching camp.
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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
For extra info:
Patrick Esparbès
Chief Working Officer
Judo Canada
(514) 668-6279
p.esparbes@judocanada.org
