Team Canada won four medals at the 2019 Hohhot Grand Prix in China from May 24-26. The multiple medals at the prestigious international judo event is just a prime example of just how much depth the Canadian international judo program has at the moment.
On the men’s side, Arthur Margelidon of Montreal, Quebec won the bronze medal in the men’s 73 kilogram division. On the women’s side, the Canadian medalists were Ecaterina Guica of Montreal, Quebec, who won bronze in the women’s 52 kilogram division, Jessica Klimkait of Whitby, Ontario, who won bronze in the women’s 57 kilogram division, and Kelita Zupancic of Whitby, Ontario, who won bronze in the women’s 70 kilogram division.
In the men’s 73 kilograms, Margelidon won Pool D after beating Nuno Saraiva of Portugal, Oleg Babgoev of Russia and Magdiel Estrada of Cuba. He then lost to Victor Scvortov of the United Arab Emirates in the semifinals before beating Antoine Bouchard of Jonquiere, Quebec in the repechage. Hidayat Heydarov of Azerbaijan won the gold medal, Scvortov won the silver medal and Igor Wandtke of Germany won the other bronze medal.
In the women’s 52 kilogram division, Guica beat Daria Bobrikova of Russia before losing to Uta Abe of Japan in Pool A action. She then beat Angelica Delgado of the United States and Gili Cohen of Israel in repechage action to win bronze. Abe won gold. Evelyne Tschopp of Switzerland won silver and Gefen Primo of Israel won the other bronze.
In the women’s 57 kilogram division, Klimkait beat Hongjie Tian of China in Pool C action before losing to Jin A Kim of North Korea. She then beat Theresa Stoll of Germany and Sarah Leonie Cysique of France in the repechage to win bronze. Kim won gold. Daria Mezhetskaia of Russia won the silver and Tongjuan Lu of China won the other bronze.
In the women’s 70 kilogram division, Zupancic beat Hye Jin Jeong of South Korea in Pool B action before losing to Giovanna Scoccimarro of Germany. She then beat Elisavet Teltsidou of Greece and Xiaoqian Sun of China in the repechage. The medals for Margelidon, Guica, Klimkait and Zupancic will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
