Justin Lemire Claims Canada’s Only Win Saturday at Zagreb Grand Slam

Montréal, September 14, 2024 –Several Canadian judokas are taking part in the Zagreb Grand Slam this weekend in Croatia’s capital city. Justin Lemire, who competes in the under-73 kg weight category, put in the country’s best performance on Saturday, as the only Canadian to win a bout.

“There were five people on our roster today. Unfortunately, we only had one win. So far, it hasn’t been a great weekend. Some of our performances have been a bit disappointing, but we still have Coralie and Mohab to go on Sunday,” said Canadian coach Antoine Valois-Fortier.

After receiving a first-round bye, Quebec’s Lemire won his opening match by waza-ari against Spain’s Adrian Veste after four minutes of regulation time.

“Today’s highlight was Justin’s defeat of his opponent on the ground near the end of the bout,” added Valois-Fortier.

The 23-year-old judoka’s day came to an end in the second round, however, when Poland’s Wiktor Mrowczynski bested him by ippon. Mrowczynski later finished seventh overall.

Also in the under-73 kg category, Yanis Hachemi received a bye on Saturday before bowing out by ippon to Italy’s Giovanni Esposito in his first match of the day. Esposito went on to win the silver medal.

The two Canadians’ teammate Julien Frascadore met a similar fate on Friday in the under-66 kg weight division.The Santiago Pan-American Games silver medallist benefited from a bye before losing his first bout of the day to Hungary’s Balint Gombas.

“It was a very, very long match that he unfortunately lost on the ground after several minutes,” explained the Canadian coach.

Isabelle Harris (-63 kg), David Popovici (-81 kg),and Keagan Young (-81 kg) were all eliminated in their first matches of the day.

Coralie Godbout (-78 kg) and Mohab ElNahas (-90 kg) will be in action on Sunday in Croatia.