Montréal, May 17, 2025 – The action continued on Saturday at the Canadian Open Judo Championships in Calgary, Alberta, with competitions in the U16 and U21 age categories. Quebec’s Catherine Toshkov pursued her impressive run, winning her third gold medal in three years at the event.
The victory felt extra special to Toshkov, given that it was her first title in her new weight class of under-63 kg. In the final, she defeated Manitoba’s Maia Thomson, who won gold in yesterday’s U18 category.
“Everything went really well. I had a ton of energy. I took it one bout at a time. I felt confident, but still, I was a bit stressed about being in a new category, because I wasn’t familiar with all my opponents. But in the end, it turned out well,” said Toshkov.
“Maia is an excellent athlete, so I made sure I was well-prepared to fight her. And although I wasn’t about to take anything for granted, I felt ready. My coach and I had come up with a good strategy, and things went according to plan,” she added.
After receiving a first-round bye, Toshkov disposed of Ontario’s Savannah MacDonald, Quebec’s Métis Couture, and Alberta’s Maralgoo Batbayar to secure her ticket to the final.
The Montrealer will be back in action on Sunday in the senior tournament.
The other female U21 gold medallists at the Canadian Open were Ekaterina Danilkov(-48 kg), Helena Martins De Oliveira (-52 kg), Laurence Gagnon (-57 kg), Charline Bourque (-70 kg), Kiera Burt (-78 kg), and Marianna Karas (+78 kg).
On the boys’ side, Vincent Nepton was up against Raphael Gaanan in the hotly contested under-66 kg final. Nepton came out on top.
“I was apprehensive about these finals, because I had a feeling he was the one I’d be fighting in my last bout. But in the end, I got him back, because he beat me last year. I tried to be patient, and it turned out I had to be even more patient than I expected, but it paid off,” he explained.
According to Nepton, he succeeded in winning the second Canadian Open Championships gold medal of his career thanks to his hard work during training.
“I was nervous at the beginning of the day, but I was quickly able to turn my focus to my bouts and my strategies, and that’s what made the difference. I’ve been working really hard, so it’s nice to see it pay off.”
Luke Thomson (-66 kg), Fahd Fitane (-73 kg), Lasha Tsatsalashvili (-81 kg), Habibullah Said Mohammad (-90 kg), Yehor Paladii (-100 kg), and Arthur Stivenson (+100 kg) also stood on top of the podium in their respective categories.
Second win in as many days for Gabrieli Makhatadze
For Gabrieli Mahatadze, yesterday’s U18 victory wasn’t quite enough, so today, he also picked up the U16 under-50 kg title.
Following two early-day wins, the Ontarian needed extra time to dispatch of Quebec’s Oleksander Smakula in the semi-final. He concluded his day by disposing of Alexander Li in the big final.
“I feel great. I made a few errors, but I quickly put them behind me and went after the win. In the final, I knew my opponent well. My game plan was clear in my mind, and I wanted to remain in control. Everything went well.”
On the girls’ side, Victoria Summers ousted Alberta’s Presley Tompkins in the under-63 kg final.
Summers also captured the title at last year’s Canadian Open Championships.
“I’m really proud of my gold medal, but it wasn’t easy! The final was especially hard. I would have liked to score earlier, to relieve some of the pressure. This is my final year in U16, so this medal feels very special,” she said.
Brooklyn Seeman (-40 kg), Marianna Schesnuik (-44 kg), Zoe Element (-48 kg), Emma Tritton (-52 kg), Ksenia Oudovikine (-57 kg), Eloise Godin (-70 kg), and Paola Couthon (+70 kg) also won U16 gold medals today, while on the boys’ side, Matthew Sibriyakov (-38 kg), Prokhor Reshetnikov (-42 kg), Giorgi Kurashvili (-46 kg), Roman Semyrozum (-55 kg), Ashkan Khahan Zamora (-60 kg), Ibrahim Azar(-66 kg), Alexandre Chevalier (-73 kg), and Emelyan Sokolov (+73 kg) secured the titles.
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For the competition results, click here.
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For more information:
Patrick Esparbès
Chief Operating Officer
Judo Canada
(514) 668-6279
p.esparbes@judocanada.org