Mohab ElNahas Earns Silver in Portimão

Montréal, October 6, 2024 – Despite not feeling great after suffering a bout of food poisoning earlier in the week, Mohab ElNahas was able to finish off his day, Sunday, on the second step of the podium at the Senior European Cup in Portimão, Portugal.

Photo European Judo
Mohab ElNahas (on the left)

The Ontarian reached the final in the Under-90kg category, where he was pitted against France’s Joris Guillot-Rosselot. After his opponent had already accumulated two penalties, EINahas had control of the bout, but made a tactical error that enabled the Frenchman to turn the tide in their favour, and win the match.

“He wasn’t the biggest, but he was really strong. I still have a bit of difficulty against guys like that, as I’m a bit light at 90kg. I think I was leading the match, but I made a mistake that cost me a lot. I got close, and he got under my legs and then rolled me over,” explained ElNahas.

“All the same, I’m very happy with my medal, and it feels good to be on the podium. I would have liked to have won the gold medal of course, but I’m happy overall. I wanted to do my best, so I’m not disappointed at all right now,” he added.

Earlier in the day, the Canadian had beaten Portugal’s Pedro Cavaco, then Great Britain’s Samuel Petgrave. Both victories fuelled his confidence for the rest of the competition.

“I had a good start to the day and I felt really good. The Portuguese judoka was taller than me and looked stronger, while the British athlete was quite physical. All the same, I knew I had what it takes to go far in the tournament,” remarked ElNahas.

To secure his ticket to the final, ElNahas defeated Argentina’s Mariano Coto Bersier in the semi-finals, in what he described as his “toughest bout of the day.”

“The Argentinian judoka was very, very strong, so it was really tough. I wasn’t able to get an ippon and I won with a waza-ari, countering him at the end of the fight. He’s won some important Grand Prix fights recently, so I’m happy to have beaten him this time today.”

Today marks Mohab ElNahas’ first European Cup podium since his victory in Gaia, Portugal, in August 2023. He’ll be back in action next weekend at the European Cup in Malaga, Spain.

Also stepping onto the tatami for Canada in Portimão was Daniel McCristall (-66 kg), who ended up with a record of one win and two losses.

Fahd Fitane and Guillaume Gaulin both take home bronze medals

Canadian judokas were in action on the other side of the Atlantic as well, taking part in the Panamerican Cup in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Of Team Canada’s representatives, Fahd Fitane (-73 kg) and Guillaume Gaulin (-90 kg) both made their way to the podium.

Fitane was the first to earn his bronze medal. The Quebecer first defeated Dominican Moises Ozuna before moving on to defeating Panamanian Ronal Gonzalez. The two successes paved the way for Fitane’s place in the semi-finals.

However, Anthony Matos of the Dominican Republic put an end to Fitane’s gold medal hopes. Despite this, the 18-year-old Canadian didn’t give up and came back strong in a bronze-medal duel to beat American judoka Romin Bakhtiyor.

Guillaume Gaulin was defeated in his bout at the start, by Dominican Medickson Del Orbe Cortorreal. Yet, Gaulin bounced back in brilliant fashion in the repechage, where he first beat Jose De Los Santos, another of the crowd’s favourites.

The Canadian judoka finished off the day in style, scoring two quick waza-aris in his bronze medal bout against Puerto Rican Derik Rodriguez – enough to secure his place on the podium.

In the Under-60kg category, Tylor Collins also reached one of the bronze medal bouts, where he unfortunately lost to Dominican Dany Manuel Castro.

Earlier, Collins had defeated Kendry Abad Mateo of the Dominican Republic and American James Foster to reach the semi-finals, where he then lost to eventual silver medallist Johan Gomez of Colombia.

In the Under 66kg class, Luke Thomson took seventh place, with a record of one win and two losses. Teammate Alexis Kearney won his first bout, before being eliminated in the next round.

Adrian Shimabukuro gave it their all, but was unable to find a way to victory in Santo Domingo.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada

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Patrick Esparbès
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