Rookies from Canada hit Tyumen with gold

Junior World Championships silver medallist Catherine Beauchemin Pinard of Canada secured the biggest result of her flourishing career in Tyumen as she won her first Grand Slam gold medal. The 20-year-old talent defeated Olympic and world bronze medallist Marti Malloy by a single shido as the Canadian – who won the Ulaanbaatar Grand Prix a week ago – registered an unblemished record to secure back-to-back IJF World Judo Tour gold medals.

In the first semi-final Malloy bested European U23 Championships winner Loredana Ohai (ROU) on shido penalties with three against the Romanian and only one against Marti Malloy.In the second semi-final Beauchemin Pinard showed her character as she defeated the vastly experienced and consistent Sabrina Filzmoser (AUT) by a solitary shido penalty in a victory for youth over experience.

The first bronze medal was won by Ohai as Lien Chen-Ling (TPE) missed out on a medal despite defeating world champion Rafaela Silva of Brazul in the preliminaries by only shido penalty which was the only infringement in the contest. The second bronze medal was won by Filzmoser who defeated 18-year-old hotshot Deguchi Christa (JPN) by holding her down for 20 seconds to earn ippon after her rival led with two yuko scores.

Besides Beauchemin-Pinard also Kyle Reyes, Kelita Zupancic and Antoine Valois-Fortier won a medal in Tyumen