Explosive judo dominated a thrilling second day of the Montreal Grand Prix 2019, with Japan topping the medals table, ahead of hosts Canada in second
ADVERTISEMENTDay 2 of the Montreal Grand Prix 2019 opened with an amazing display from the Deer family from the Mohawk community in front of the packed Maurice Richard Arena before the judo got under way.
2015 World Champion Takanori Nagase of Japan was our Man of the Day. In the -81kg final, Nagase faced local hero, Olympic Bronze medallist Antoine Valois-Fortier. And with a stunning uchi mata, Nagase added another World Tour medal to his collection.
In the women's division, Canadian hopeful Kelita Zupancic was up against German Giovanna Scoccimarro in the -70kg final, but it was Scoccimarro who took away the gold medal after holding Zupancic down for ippon. It was disappointment for Zupancic, but elation for the young German.
The -70kg gold medal was presented by Mrs Anne Merklinger, CEO of Own The Podium, to our Woman of the Day.
2017 World Champion Soichi Hashimoto of Japan faced off against Victor Scvortov of the United Arab Emirates in the -73kg final. After scoring a wazari, Hashimoto immediately proceeded to submit Scvortov using an armlock to secure his gold medal. It was an opportune counter-attack, leading to a decisive finish.
The gold wins of Hashimoto and Nagase helped keep Japan atop of the **medals standings,**with a total of four golds so far, ahead Canada in second place with one gold, three silvers and three bronzes.
In the women's division, Cho Mokhee of Korea won the -63kg category after countering Amy Livesy of Great Britain in the final, securing her first ever Grand Prix gold medal.
Meanwhile, Alexia Castilhos of Brazil took away an emotional bronze medal in the -63kg category after defeating Israel's Gili Sharir to win her fourth medal in a Grand Prix.
Canadian medal wins send home fans wild
And two home bronze medals sent the Canadian fans wild. After -63kg home favourite Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard defeated Katharina Haecker of Australia with a hold down, her compatriot Antoine Bouchard bested Brazil’s Eduardo Barbosa in the -73kg bronze contest to the joy of the spectators. It was a great day for Canada.