Montréal, October 17, 2025 – On Friday, Canadian judokas Evelyn Beaton (-52 kg) and Heidi Quach (-48 kg) battled for bronze in their respective weight divisions on the opening day of the Judo Grand Prix in Guadalajara, Mexico. However, the two young athletes were defeated in their final matches, thus finishing fifth in their respective categories.
“Although they’re young and are just starting to compete on the senior circuit, we would have liked to see some of our athletes on the podium today. Three of them were potential podium contenders. But like I said earlier, live and learn. [This experience] will serve them well on the long road to the Los Angeles Olympic Games,” said their coach, Antoine Valois-Fortier.
In the under-52 kg weight class, recently crowned junior world champion Nicole Marques of Brazil prevailed over Beaton twenty seconds into overtime by throwing the Albertan to the ground.
Beaton had begun her day with a quick victory over Paulina Martinez of Mexico, but was defeated by Ayumi Leiva Sanchez of Spain in the following round. Leiva Sanchez later won the silver medal.
In Quach’s final bout, she faced Tamar Malca of Israel.
“[Malca] was a high-calibre opponent. The match started out well for Heidi, but unfortunately, her opponent scored halfway through the bout. However, there were some bright spots for [Heidi] today, and she performed better than she did last week,” said Valois-Fortier of the 21-year-old Québécoise.
Earlier, Quach had lost to Eva Perez Soler of Spain, who later won the silver medal, before defeating Anat Tsyrlin of the USA in the repechage.
Julien Frascadore, who won a silver medal at the Lima Grand Prix in Peru last week, had a tough day in the under-66 kg weight division on Friday. The Québécois was eliminated in the first round by France’s Bouba Daikii, the top seed and reigning European champion.
On Saturday, Canadians Jessica Klimkait (-63 kg), Justin Lemire (-73 kg), David Popovici (-81 kg), and François Gauthier-Drapeau (-81 kg) will hit the tatamis in Guadalajara. Last week, Klimkait won gold at the Lima Grand Prix in Peru.
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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
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