Judo Manitoba hosted the 2nd annual Manitoba Open Judo Championships on October 14 – 15, 2023. The tournament featured 360 entries from across Canada competing at the Dakota Community Centre in Winnipeg for two days of exciting judo competition.
The Manitoba Open is the first stop on this season’s Canadian judo circuit of major national tournaments. Competitors in the U16 and older divisions competed not only for medals, but also for ranking points to earn selection to the Elite 8 National Championships held in January and for selection to international events.
The home province led the way in the medal standings with a medal haul of 19 gold, 18 silver and 9 bronze medals.
Saturday, October 14 featured a Kata competition (demonstration of a predetermined series of techniques), a Newaza (groundwork) competition, as well as competition in the U10, U12, U18, U21 and Veteran age divisions. The event concluded on Sunday with competition in the U14, U16 and Senior age divisions.
Also at the tournament, a presentation was made to two prominent local judoka. Long-time coach, referee and builder Henry Fast and 1984 Olympic bronze medalist and former Manitoba Head Coach Mark Berger were presented with their grading diplomas after recently being awarded their 8th dan (level) black belts by the Judo Canada Grading Committee. Judo Manitoba congratulates Mr. Fast and Mr. Berger on this outstanding lifetime achievement.
The Manitoba Open drew many top fighters, including a number of talented local athletes. Leading the way for Team Manitoba was Sarah Ekosky, a 19 year old black belt, who was a double gold medalist. On Saturday, Sarah won four straight matches to reach the top spot on the podium in U21 Female under 63 kg. On Sunday, the no. 3 ranked fighter in the country in her weight division, won gold in the Senior Women under 63 kg division after defeating Sara-Anne Beaudin from Quebec in the final.
Two of Sarah’s siblings also won medals at the tournament. Damien Ekosky, a 24 year old black belt, was back in competition after a one year absence. Damien won gold in Senior Men under 73 kg, defeating Malakai Kurpjuweit from Alberta in the final by ippon (full point). Meanwhile, younger brother Daniel Ekosky won a bronze medal in U21 Men under 81 kg.
Shogun Laczko, a 22 year old black belt, finished first in Senior Men under 81 kg. After two wins in the preliminary rounds, Shogun defeated Armin Bondar from Saskatchewan in the gold medal final to earn the gold medal.
Nicolas Villa, a 17 year old provincial team member who was coming off a bronze medal performance at the Pan Am/Oceania Judo Championships held in Calgary in early September, earned a silver medal for Manitoba in the U21 under 73 kg division. Nicolas reached the gold medal final, dropping the final match to Louis-Maxime Dube from Quebec.
Also medaling for Manitoba in the U21 and Senior age divisions were Monica Laqui Ortiz (bronze in U21 Female under 63 kg) and Charlie Launder (bronze in Senior Men under 73 kg).
Manitoba was also well represented in the Kata competition, with local judoka Sonia Christ and Gary Robinson winning silver in the Ju No Kata event.
“This was an important event for our local competitors,” said Manitoba Provincial Coach Airton Nakamura. “Our athletes had a chance to gain valuable experience against fighters from across Canada without having to travel out of province. The team took advantage of the opportunity and we are pleased with the team’s effort and performance this weekend.”
“We were able to deliver another excellent event this year,” said Milton Good, President of Judo Manitoba, noting that the tournament expanded by approximately 100 entries over last year’s inaugural event. “We are grateful to all of the athletes, referees, coaches and volunteers that made this event a success.”
For more information, please contact Elizabeth Trueman, Executive Director for Judo Manitoba at judo@sportmanitoba.ca