Kyle Reyes of Brampton, Ontario won the gold medal on Sunday in the men’s under 100 kilogram division at the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam in the United Arab Emirates. It was the first gold medal in a grand slam judo event for Reyes and the fourth grand slam medal in his career. He previously won the silver medals in Tokyo, Japan on November 29, 2013, in Tyumen, Russia on July 12, 2014, and in Paris, France on February 6, 2016.
In an interesting twist, Reyes was not the only Canadian judokan to land on the podium in the men’s under 100 kilogram division in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. That is because Shady El Nahas of Toronto, Ontario won the bronze medal. This was El Nahas’s eighth career grand slam medal as he has won one gold medal, two silver medals and five bronze medals over the years.
Reyes was in Pool D. There he got a first round bye before beating Francisco Balanta of Colombia, Otabek Turaboev of Uzbekistan, and Nurlykhan Sharkhan of Kazakhstan. Reyes then beat Asley Gonzalez of Romania in the semifinals, and silver medalist Nikoloz Sherazadishvili of Spain in the gold medal match.
El Nahas meanwhile was in Pool A. He got a first round bye before beating Avtar Singh of India, Dzhafar Kostoev of United Arab Emirates and Mathias Madsen of Denmark. El Nahas then lost to Sherazadishvili in the semifinals, before beating Elmar Gasimov of Azerbaijan in one of two Repechage matches. Aleksandar Kukolj of Serbia won the other bronze medal. The medals for Reyes and El Nahas will give them confidence in their preparations to represent Canada at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
