Canada’s Cadet and Junior teams earn bronze in Lima
Montréal, April 20, 2025 – Both Cadet and Junior teams representing Canada earned bronze medals on Sunday, the last day of the Panamerican and Oceania Championships Juniors in Peru.
Photo: Judo Canada
The Cadet team featured: Addyson Tamura (-48 kg), Maia Thomson (-63 kg), Missy Jen Dorval Mbele (+63 kg), Amir Temirbaev (-60 kg), Tristan Bourque (-81 kg) and Franck David Moussima Ewana Elouti (+81 kg).
The Team faced a tough bout in the first round against Team Brazil, and lost 4-1.
“There were five countries in the cadet tournament, and we had Brazil in the draw. We knew it was going to be tough; the Brazilians are often the team to beat in these tournaments. We had some very close matches, but the team showed up and wanted to win,” said Coach Sasha Mehmedovic post-competition.
The defeat meant that Team Canada Cadet was able to step onto the tatami for the bronze medal, where they defeated the Peruvians before heading for the third step of the podium.
“The athletes pulled themselves together and did very well. They answered the call and that enabled us to finish on the podium,” summarized Mehmedovic.
In terms of Team Canada’s Junior group, they took on Team Cuba at the start of the tournament. Tied 3-3 after six bouts, it took a duel in the -57kg category to finally decide the winner. In the end, the Cuban judokas came out on top. However, in the repechage, Team Canada Junior rallied back and defeated the Americans 4-2.
“We were at a disadvantage against the USA in the heavier weight class, but Emily Harris was the hero of the day,” noted Mehmedovic. Notably, Harris usually competes at the cadet level; she won an individual bronze medal in the cadet tournament on Friday.
This time, Harris won a key match – which enabled her team to fight for the bronze – where she got the better of the Peruvians, as did the Team Canadian Cadet squad.
Carla Van Zyl (-57 kg), Laurence Gagnon (-57 kg), Charlie Thibault (-70 kg), Emily Harris (+70 kg), Fahd Fithane (-73 kg) Lowan Le Bris (-73 kg), Arthur Karpukov (-90 kg) and Lucas Macdonald (+90 kg) represented Canada for the occasion.
“We’re leaving Peru with two podium finishes, which is a fantastic and positive experience for the athletes and their development. These competitions are also very beneficial for team spirit, and that was certainly the case again today,” concluded Sasha Mehmedovic, proud of the work accomplished by these young and talented judokas.
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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
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