Montréal, March 9, 2025 – Canada’s young athletes maintained their momentum on Sunday at the Junior European Cup in Portimão, Portugal. Following in the steps of Catherine Toshkov, who won a bronze medal on Saturday, three additional Canadians climbed to the third step of the podium as the tournament came to a close on Sunday.
Carla Van Zyl (-57 kg), Valeria Kostrovets (-52 kg), and Yehor Paladii (-100 kg) were each awarded a bronze medal after winning their respective final bouts.
In her bronze medal match against Clarisse Carillon of France, British Columbia’s Van Zyl came from behind to secure the win, scoring two waza-ari in the final minute to pull ahead of her opponent, who had scored a waza-ari and a yuko earlier in the bout.
“What a match! I was chewing my fingernails on the sidelines. Carla really learned a lot today. Her bout was really exciting. Although she was trailing, she never gave up. She took back the lead and won in the final seconds. I’m extremely happy with her win,” said Canadian coach Sasha Mehmedovic.
Earlier in the day, Van Zyl had defeated Italians Nina Gambardella and Martina Capezzuto, before bowing out to Italy’s Michela Terranova in a semi-final match that went into overtime.
Terranova later won the category’s silver medal.
Today’s medal was Van Zyl’s third at a Junior Continental Cup. Last November, she won gold in Montréal.
Also in the under-57 kg weight class, Hayden Thibeault finished the day with a record of one win and two losses.
Last week in Málaga, Valeria Kostrovets lost her only two bouts of the weekend, and she had no intention of seeing the scenario repeat itself in Portimão. She succeeded in her mission.
The Québécoise won her first two bouts of the day, but lost to Monica Martinez de Rituerto Morillas of Spain in the semi-final.
Undaunted, Kostrovets came back strong in her bronze medal final, clinching the win in overtime against Maddy Kissenisky of Great Britain. Martinez de Rituerto Morillas went on to win the silver medal.
“Valeria showed a lot of character today. Her bronze medal match went on for a very long time. Her energy seemed to lag at one point, but she never stopped fighting. She stuck to her game plan and won the bout when her opponent received a third penalty,” explained Mehmedovic.
In the under-48 weight class, Angelina McCristall was eliminated in her first match of the day by Italy’s Aurora Platania.
Like Kostrovets, Yehor Paladii also had something to prove today, after he saw a bronze medal slip through his fingers last weekend in Málaga.
The 18-year-old began his day with a convincing victory over Portugal’s Danilo Storozhuk, but bowed out to Kazakhstan’s Sanzhar Yerulanuly in the next round.
Paladii nevertheless pushed on, winning two back-to-back bouts in the repechage to advance to the bronze medal final, where he faced Poland’s Damian Kubiak. The Canadian dispatched of his opponent in 49 seconds.
“In the quarter-finals, Yehor appeared to be in control, but his opponent managed to get him into an arm lock. Nevertheless, he kept working hard all day, and he made his way to the bronze medal final and ultimately, the podium. I’m very proud of him,” concluded Mehmedovic.
A single bout for Coralie Godbout
At the Linz Grand Prix in Austria, Coralie Godbout was in action in the under-78 kg category today.
After receiving a first-round bye, the Québécoise found herself up against Eva Ronja Buddenkotte of Germany in the next round. Buddenkotte scored an ippon in the first minute of combat, effectively putting an end to Godbout’s work day.
In the category’s big final, Yuliia Kurchenko of Ukraine defeated Emma Reid of Great Britain to capture the gold medal.
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For more information:
Patrick Esparbès
Chief Operating Officer
Judo Canada
(514) 668-6279
p.esparbes@judocanada.org