Mohab El Nahas was perfect in his five duels on Sunday at the European Cup in Gaia, Portugal, en route to a spot on the top step of the podium in only his second competition at -90kg since 2021.
El Nahas managed to secure his place in the semi-finals with three wins early in the day over Britain’s Chandler Hill, Israel’s Daniel Bershadsky and Argentina’s Mariano Coto Bersier.
“My first three fights were quite tough and strategic. The opponents were strong and very physical, I’m very happy to have managed to get out of my group to make it to the next round,” commented El Nahas.
In the semi-finals, the Canadian had an appointment with the Finn Artur Kanevets, an opponent he knows very well since they have long been training partners. The fight ended in overtime where El Nahas was able to place a decisive attack to secure their ticket to the final.
Facing Norway’s Kornelius Eilertsen in the ultimate duel, El Nahas was able to cement his place at the top of the category quite quickly with an ippon win.
“I had never seen him before today [Sunday]. He was very tall and physical. I wanted to be strategic by attacking him quickly and it worked. Strangely, it was my easiest fight of the day,” El Nahas enthused.
Anyone who has just made the jump to the under 90 kg category after having spent the last few years in the under 81 kg category is looking forward to this new start and will want to do everything possible to have the chance to find themselves in the Paris Olympics in just under a year.
“I’m glad to have bounced back from a more ordinary performance in Zagreb last week. I have demonstrated that I am capable of achieving success in both categories. When I return to Canada, I will sit down with my coach to assess the future. If all goes well, I should be back in December for the Grand Slam in Tokyo to push for the Olympics. »
Unlike El Nahas, Adriana Portuondo Isasi dropped down the category to find herself in -70kg for the first time since her return to judo exactly a year ago.
She finished the day fifth in her new category after losing to Kazakh Ekaterina Tokareva in a duel for a bronze medal.
“I learned a lot this weekend in Gaia. I realize that under 70 kg is definitely my category! It was not necessarily in the plans to go down to this category, but since my return after five of physical inactivity, my body has changed enormously and I have lost a lot of weight. It’s learning, but it’s really fun,” Portuondo Isasi shared.
In this same category, Alexandria Lefort finished in seventh place.
For their part, Daniel McCristall (-66 kg), Alex Marineau (-81 kg) and Benjamin Kendrick (-100 kg) were unable to find their way to victory in Gaia.