Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard grabs the opportunity in Zagreb

After a tough weekend in Budapest, Hungary, last week, Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard was eager to get back on track, and she did so in fine fashion at the Zagreb Grand Prix in Croatia, finishing on top of the podium Saturday in the U63kg category. “It feels good to be back on the podium, especially after a tough week like last week. I wanted to put it behind me quickly and make a strong comeback. I knew what had gone badly last week. Today, I really wanted to perform consistently to win the gold medal,” said Beauchemin-Pinard.

The Montrealer’s toughest match was her semi-final face-off against Brazil’s Ketleyn Quadros. Beauchemin-Pinard scored a waza-ari a minute and 20 seconds into the bout and was able to maintain her lead until the end of regulation time.

“I grabbed an opportunity to score early in the fight. After that, I had to stay focused to maintain my lead. I fought Quadros in the Olympics, so I’ve started to get to know her. I knew she wouldn’t be an easy opponent, but that it was possible to beat her.”

Anriquelis Barrios was scheduled to face Beauchemin-Pinard in the final, but an injury in the semi-finals sidelined the Colombian and the victory went to the Canadian.

After receiving a bye in the first round, Beauchemin-Pinard had to battle hard in her two preliminary round bouts. She began by soundly defeating Joanne Van Lieshout of the Netherlands in her first match before securing her place in the semi-finals by edging out Gankhaich Bold of Mongolia in overtime.

"I have more experience than Van Lieshout and I think that showed. I stayed in control from start to finish, even though she showed some good technique. When it came to Bold, I had beaten her last week, but I didn’t want to fall into the trap of being complacent. I made sure to stay in the moment, I followed my game plan and I fought pushed hard in overtime to win,” explained Beauchemin-Pinard.

“These tournaments are very competitive. Over the past few months, several young athletes have started to make their mark, so it’s very motivating for me to win a gold medal in this type of environment. It’s good preparation for the Commonwealth Games and the World Championships,” she added.

Venezuelan Anriquelis Barrios has to cross the Atlantic every time she wants to compete on the World Judo Tour. It is not an easy journey, however long, because you have to adapt, and although she spends some time training in Spain, she is far from home. Little by little she has gained consistency and is already number two in the world. In Hungary she took the bronze and in Zagreb she stepped into the final with authority, but was very unlucky. She defeated the Spanish Cristina Cabaña Pérez in the semi final but she hurt her right knee and had to give up the gold. In exchange, she took the silver medal.

Israeli Gili Sharir failed to add to her country's medal tally at the last three tournaments. The bronze in Zagreb went to Brazil in the hands of Quadros, who greeted Sharir with a waza-ari before the Israeli broke a sweat. Quadros then dedicated herself to temporising, waiting for the right moment to counterattack when Sharir came in. If there was no attack, the Brazilian waited and there was ne-waza. She worked just enough to consume time. It was an appropriate and winning strategy and for the Brazilian it also represented her ninth medal at grand prix level, three of each colour.

The second battle for bronze opposed Bold and Cabaña Pérez. After a first attack that heralded good things, the Spaniard fell into the trap and was cooled down with an explosive ippon from Bold.