Press Releases
Press Release Service
Disponible en français
« Back to Latest News
Judo – world championships: Seventh place finish for Sasha Mehmedovic; Aminata Sall and Nicholas Tritton obtain ninth place
Judo-man Sasha Mehmedovic accomplished the best Canadian performance since the beginning of the world championships in Rio de Janeiro by finishing seventh in the under 66 kilogram category, Saturday. The Montrealer, of Serbian heritage, was knocked out of the competition in the second round of the repechage.
The canadian judo contestant’s first of three small victories came in the third round against one of the tournament’s favourites, France’s Benjamin Barbelet, before his first loss in the quarter final to Arash Miresmaelli. Misresmaeli is a double world championship winner. Mehmedovic then won his first bout in the repechage and was subsequently defeated by Hungary’s Miklos Ungvari with one second left in the bout.
“Sasha attempted to attack but his adversary blocked it well,” said the national team’s coach Nicolas Gill. “He had a good stance, but his opponent reacted very well. Sometimes these situations present themselves and it can go either way. This is what Sasha faced today (Saturday).”
Gill is nonetheless very satisfied with the way his protégé performed in Rio de Janeiro. “He had some great wins against his opponents, who he had never beaten before. He has crossed the line into a new level of competition.”
A win in the final round qualifies him to compete for bronze in a seventh match-up.
Ninth place finish for Tritton and Sall
With two wins and two losses, Nicholas Tritton finished ninth in the under 73 kilogram category. The Montrealer and Guelph (ON) native first lost against Europe’s Ellur Mammadei. Tritton worked his way through the repechage and won two bouts against stiff competition from the Athens Olympic Games gold medal winner, Brasil’s Leandro Guilheiro, and the Sydney Olympic Games bronze medal winner, Latvia’s Vsevolods Zelonijs. Tritton was finally defeated in the third round of the repechage by Germany’s Robert Gess.
“He is an athlete that has a lower standing on the global stage, but it was his fourth bout in very little time,” noted Tritton’s coach. “He didn’t have enough time to recuperate from his last match-up. The tournament’s line-up didn’t really help him much either. Given the circumstances, his ninth place finish is satisfactory.”
In the under 52 kilogram category, Aminata Sall also took ninth place. The athlete from Varennes lost in the quarter finals to Brasil’s Erika Miranda, after beating Senegal’s Hortense Diédhiou and Poland’s Monika Cabaj. Sall was eliminated from the repechage after succumbing to Korea’s Kyung Ok Kim.
“This outcome was pretty much what we predicted given the match-ups she got,” specified Gill.
The judo world championships finish Sunday. Over the course of the final day, Isabel Latulippe (-48 kg), Frazer Will (-60 kg) will be the only remaining Canadian judo-men in the competition.
-30-
Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada.
Information : (514) 990-0966 ou 1-866-990-0966.
Sound clips are available at www.sportcom.ca/audio.html.
SIRC is pleased to provide the distribution of announcements however is not responsible for their respective content and translation. Please contact the person identified in each message for more information about the announcement.
Contact Us
