Kyles Reyes didn’t have it easy on Sunday in the Grand Slam bronze final in Antalya, Turkey, where he faced Dutchman Simeon Catharina. The latter was tough to bring the fight to overtime, but in the end, the Canadian’s patience and fighting spirit propelled him to the third step of the under 100 kg podium.
“I was expecting a tough fight and that’s exactly what I got! ” launched Reyes, who had suffered the defeat in his only other meeting against Catharina, in December 2022.
The second duel between the two men this time went to the side of the Canadian representative who had adapted his strategy with his coach Antoine Valois-Fortier. Rather than attacking quickly in the clash, Reyes used trickery.
“We knew he didn’t have a lot of stamina, so we kept a safe distance for the first two minutes. Then I started putting the pressure on and I was trying a lot of attacks to try and throw him,” Reyes continued.
The hostilities went into overtime and the Canadian judoka continued to apply his game plan to the letter. Catharina finally succumbed to the pressure, receiving a fatal third shido in the seventh minute of the bout.
“I was relieved, because it was even more difficult than expected,” Reyes said. In my head, I was not thinking of causing a penalty, but really more of finding a way to project it. I saw a lot of openings, but he had a very good defense and that shows me that I will have to adapt to this kind of opponent for the rest of things. »
Earlier in the day, Reyes wasted no time in showing his colours, picking up quick wins over Estonian Grigori Minaskin and Austrian Laurin Boehler in his initial two outings.
Daniel Eich, however, curbed the ardor of the Ontarian in the next round. The Swiss won by waza-ari after four minutes of regulation time and continued his way to the silver medal after a defeat against the Austrian Aaron Fara in the grand final.
For his part, Reyes went to the repechage to defeat the Ukrainian Anton Savytskiy by ippon, before finishing in style against Catharina.
“I’m happy with my performance!” I beat rivals I had never beaten before and did some really good things on the tatami. My preparation was good and my result shows me that I was ready”, concluded the vice-world champion in the category, who will again aim for the podium of the World Championships next May.
Also in the under 100kg draw, Shady ElNahas also started his tournament with two wins. Then, like Reyes, the Torontonian suffered defeat in the quarter-finals, losing by ippon against the champion of the day.
ElNahas then took the direction of the repechage for an appointment with the Kazakh Nurlykhan Sharkhan, the same one he had defeated in the bronze final last Sunday, in Tbilisi. However, things did not go as planned for the Canadian who this time had to admit defeat in overtime, due to a third penalty called against him.
“I had a good advantage in the quarter-finals, but I made a mistake and my opponent took advantage of it. Then in the draft, Sharkhan’s tactic was to dodge all of my holds and wait for me to be given three shidos. It’s a disappointing result, but it motivates me even more for the worlds,” commented Shady ElNahas, seventh in the final tournament standings.
The only other Canadian in contention on Sunday, Louis Krieber-Gagnon started his tournament in style in the -90 kg category, winning against Wei-Cheng Chang of Taipei. The Quebecer saw his career come to an end in the next round, where he lost by ippon against the eventual champion, the Dutchman Noel Van’t End.
The Canadian delegation present in Antalya completes the event with four medals, including three bronze collected by Reyes, Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard (-63 kg) and François Gauthier-Drapeau (-81 kg). For her part, Christa Deguchi (-57 kg) was decorated with silver on Friday at the opening of this Grand Slam.
Maple leaf athletes will now focus on preparing for the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, which will take place May 7-13. A camp is planned in Turkey this week, after which the judokas will return to the country to continue training there.
