An Educational Day for the Canadians in Belgium

Montréal, February 1, 2026 – For Canada’s judokas, the Belgian Open provided a wealth of learning opportunities on Sunday. “Most of [the athletes] had the chance to fight in several bouts. And for these relatively young competitors, it made for a healthy dose of experience,” explained Canadian coach Antoine Bouchard.

In the under-100 kg weight class, Yehor Paladii withdrew from the tournament during the finals of the repechage. “On paper, he won three matches and lost two, but he actually decided to withdraw because of an injury. He hurt his ankle in the middle of the tournament, and in his last fight, he took a few hard kicks. He therefore wasn’t able to continue, so we decided to pull him out of the competition,” said Bouchard.

In his upcoming tournaments, Paladii will compete in the under-90 kg category. “This was his last under-100 kg tournament. He was lighter than the other athletes today, but in my opinion, he did very well,” said Bouchard.

In the same weight division, George Madumba was limited to only one victory in his three bouts.

Justin Lemire (-81 kg) concluded the competition with three wins and two losses. “He decided to try his hand at the under-81 kg category today, and yet he still managed to rack up three wins,” noted Bouchard. “He appeared more at ease than yesterday, and he was less stressed. He really made good use of his strengths to win his fights, even though his opponents were heavier than him.”

Also in the under-81 kg category, Olivier Gagnon finished the day with one win and one loss. Both Porter Guy and Antoine Berteau were winless at today’s event.

In the under-66 kg weight division, Daniel McCristall and Éliandre Barriault-Tremblay notched up one win and one loss each, while Julien Frascadore was defeated in his only match of the day.

On the women’s side, Carla Van Zyl achieved the best result of the tournament among Canada’s women, finishing seventh in the under-63 kg category, with four wins and two losses.

In the same weight class, Catherine Toshkov won one of her three bouts.

Heidi Quach (-48 kg) ended the day with three wins and one loss. Evelyn Beaton (-52 kg) and Rima Bourihane (-52 kg) had two wins and two losses each.

“Heidi and Evelyn both lost in the quarter-finals, and unfortunately, neither of them made it to the repechage,” explained Bouchard.

Laurence Gagnon (-57 kg) recorded one win and one loss, while Charlie Thibault (-70 kg) racked up four wins and one loss.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada

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Patrick Esparbès
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