Christa Deguchi perfect in front of friends and family
Jessica Klimkait bounces back to capture bronze
Montréal, December 2nd, 2023 – Christa Deguchi once again demonstrated the extent of her talent on Saturday at the Tokyo Grand Slam, where she fought in front of many familiar faces. At the top of her game, the world champion and current IJF number one put on quite a show and won the gold medal in the under 57 kg category.
Jessica Lima, Christa Deguchi, Jessica Klimkait and Chen-Ling Lien on the podium.
“Christa was simply phenomenal today (Saturday)! She was in complete control from the first to the last bout and was never worried. It was a really brilliant performance”, summed up coach Antoine Valois-Fortier at the end of the tournament.
After back-to-back wins over Britain’s Lele Nairne by ippon and Japan’s Ayami Takano by waza-ari, Deguchi took her judo to the next level for her final two bouts.
Her semi-final opponent was Georgia’s Eteri Liparteliani, ranked eighth in the world, whom she defeated by ippon after just 34 seconds.
Deguchi then put an exclamation mark on her day by using the same recipe in the final, where she was up against Brazil’s Jessica Lima. The latter could only defend herself against the numerous attacks of the Albertan, who took just 55 seconds to complete her triumph by ippon.
“I think it’s fair to say that Christa was at the top of her game today. She was particularly dominant in her last two wins, and that bodes well for the rest of the season”, added Valois-Fortier, who helped her protégée take the pressure off early in the day.
“By her own admission, Christa was a little more nervous for this tournament, confessed the coach. She had several family members and sponsors in attendance, so that added something special. I just told her to stay in the moment and use it positively. It’s easy to say, but she did it well and was very proud of her performance!”
Before clashing with Deguchi in the final duel, Lima had defeated Jessica Klimkait in overtime in the category’s other semi-final. However, the Ontarian world number two bounced back in fine style against Israel’s Timna Nelson Levy. She won by waza-ari and earned a bronze medal a few hours later.
“Jessica had a difficult draw and it was a very demanding day for her. I think fatigue built up over the course of the bouts, which partly explains why she lost to the Brazilian, who seized her chance to score at the right moment. On the other hand, she recovered very well. It really shows her strength of character,” commented Valois-Fortier about the young Canadian, who had to face four top-20 rivals at this Grand Slam.
Gauthier-Drapeau “surprised by a new opponent”
François Gauthier-Drapeau (-81 kg) achieved the best Canadian result of the day in the men’s category with a fifth-place finish. The Quebecer got his tournament off to a flying start, quickly winning his first three matches by ippon to reach the semi-finals.
He was then up against a well-known rival, South Korea’s Joonhwan Lee, who is just ahead of him in fourth place in the world rankings. The two judokas engaged in a duel worthy of their talent, but it was Lee who came out on top after four minutes of regulation time.
Gauthier-Drapeau tried to bounce back in the bronze final against an opponent he had never met before, neutral individual athlete David Karapetyan. The latter took advantage of this element of surprise to win by ippon and relegate the Canadian to fifth place.
“It’s unfortunate because François didn’t finish on the podium, but it was still a very good tournament for him, especially with three solid ippons at the start of the day”, insisted Antoine Valois-Fortier.
“The other fights were close, and he followed the game plan throughout the day. Against the South Korean, everything came down to the final moments, then in the bronze final, he was surprised by a new opponent. He’d never seen him before, and this experience will stand him in good stead for their next encounter”, he concluded.
Quebecers Arthur Margelidon and Louis Krieber-Gagnon were also in action on Saturday.
Competing in the under-73 kg category, Margelidon finished with a record of one win and one loss, which came to eventual bronze medallist Giorgi Terashvili of Georgia.
As for Krieber-Gagnon, he couldn’t find the path to victory in the under-90 kg class, losing to Marcus Nyman of Sweden right from the start.
The Tokyo Grand Slam concludes on Sunday with the presentation of the tournaments in the eight remaining categories. Kelly Deguchi (-52 kg), Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard (-63 kg), Julien Frascadore (-66 kg), Shady ElNahas (-100 kg), Kyles Reyes (-100 kg) and John Jr Messe A Bessong (+100 kg) will be stepping on the tatamis for the occasion.
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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
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Patrick Esparbès
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p.esparbes@judocanada.org