Canadian judokas came away with two bronze medals at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam on Sunday. Shady El Nahas of Toronto, Ontario won the bronze medal in the men’s under 100 kilogram division, while Marc Deschenes of Laval, Quebec won the bronze medal in the men’s over 100 kilogram division from the United Arab Emirates.
In the men’s under 100 kilogram division, El Nahas received a bye in the first round. He then beat Akimurodbek Khudoyberdiev of Uzbekistan in Pool C action, before losing to Matvey Kanikovskiy of Russia in the semifinals. El Nahas then beat Falk Petersilka of Germany in the repechage to win one of two bronze medals. Michael Korrel of the Netherlands won the other bronze medal. Arman Adamian won the gold medal, as he beat Kanikovskiy in an all-Russian final. Kanikovskiy had to settle for silver. For El Nahas it was his seventh career grand slam medal.
In the men’s over 100 kilogram division, Deschenes beat Hareb Juma Murad Abdulrahman of the United Aerab Emirates in Pool C action, before losing to Vladut Simionescu of Romania. Then in the repechage, Deschenes beat Joseph Terhec of France and Yevheniy Balyevskyy of Ukraine. Tsetsentseng Odkhuu of Mongolia won gold and Simionescu won silver. Temur Rakhimov of Tajikistan won the other bronze medal. For Deschenes, it was his first career grand slam judo medal.
