Christa Deguchi of Lethbridge, Alberta won her sixth Grand Slam title of her fantastic judo career on Friday. In the women’s 57 kilogram division, she defeated silver medalist Telma Monteiro of Portugal in the final. Ivelina Ilieva of Bulgaria and Nora Gjakova of Kosovo each won the bronze medal.
Deguchi was initially in Pool B and won both of her matches to reach the medal round. She defeated Kitti Kovacs of Hungary and Veronica Toniolo of Italy. In the semifinals, Deguchi defeated Lele Nairne of Great Britain.
On the men’s side, Arthur Margelidon of Montreal, Quebec won the silver medal in the men’s 73 kilogram division. In Pool A action, he defeated Jose Antonio Aranda Olalla of Spain, Vusal Galandarzade of Azerbaijan, and Lasha Shavdatuashvili of Georgia. In the semifinals, Margelidon beat Murodjon Yuldoshev of Uzbekistan before losing to Hidayat Heydarov of Azerbaijan in the gold medal bout. Abdul Malik Umayev of Belgium and Shavdatuashvili each won the bronze medal.
This was the eighth of nine grand slam tournaments in judo so far in 2022. Deguchi becomes the third Canadian to win a grand slam judo event this year. She followed Canadian Olympic bronze medalist Jessica Klimkait of Whitby, Ontario (women’s 57 kilogram division in Antalya, Turkey in April) and Kyle Reyes of Montreal, Quebec (men’s -100 kilogram division in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in October).
