Montréal, February 9, 2025 – Despite being hampered by a foot injury from the very outset of the competition, Keagan Young remained undeterred at the European Open in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on Sunday. He competed in five bouts in the under-81 kg category, finishing his day on the third step of the podium.
In his bronze medal match against Switzerland’s Thien Oulevey, Young quickly took control. Following his game plan to the letter, the 23-year-old Ontarian scored an ippon after a minute and 20 seconds of combat to win the sixth medal of his career in a Continental Open.
“Keagan managed his opponent very well. He had an idea of what to expect because one of his teammates had fought Oulevey earlier in the day, so we were able to come up with an appropriate game plan. Keagan is a very explosive athlete, and he didn’t waste his opportunity to take control of the match,” explained Canadian coach Antoine Bouchard.
Young began his day with back-to-back victories over Matteo Frontaurea of Italy, Ofir Arie of Israel, and Johan Silot of the U.S.A. However, he was defeated in the semi-final by Pawel Drzymal of Poland, who later won the category’s gold medal.
“Keagan had an excellent day, and he made a lot of great throws. He hurt his foot at the very beginning of the competition, and we’re not yet sure of the exact nature of the injury, but even though he was in pain, he won several matches today, so kudos to him,” added Bouchard.
Three other Canadian athletes were in action in the same weight class. Olivier Gagnon won his first two bouts before bowing out to Oulevey in the third round.
David Popovici received a first-round bye when his opponent, Aljaz Plantak of Slovenia, failed to show up. He then lost to Vladimir Stark of Germany.
In his first competition in the under-81 kg weight category, Arthur Margelidon was defeated by Vladyslav Kolobov of Ukraine.
In the under-90 kg bracket, Guillaume Gaulin won his first two bouts of the day before losing to Daniel Nieto Trinidad of Spain in the quarter-final. The Québécois was also defeated in the repechage by Noah Christiaens of Belgium.
On the women’s side, Marie-Lune Turmel and Heidi Quach met similar fates in the under-48 kg division.
Turmel won her first two bouts against Marta Beorlegui of Spain and Sofia Petitto of Italy, while Quach ousted Anna Iovino of Italy and Zuleima Del Carmen Falcon Sanchez of Spain in back-to-back matches, to secure her spot in the semi-finals.
In that round, Quach was up against Marine Gilly of France, while Turmel took on Marine’s sister Coralie. The two Québécoises lost their respective matches. They therefore turned their attention to their bronze medal bouts, where they again met with identical results, both losing to finish in fifth place.
“They notched up two fine victories at the start of the day, before losing to the Gilly sisters. So there was some frustration there. Both of their bronze medal bouts were very tight. Marie-Lune lost in overtime, and Heidi’s opponent scored a yuko at the very end to clinch the win,” said Bouchard.
Evelyn Beaton (-52 kg) finished in seventh place. She won her first match against Pauline Cuq of France, but lost to Janka Juttner of Hungary in the quarter-final. In the repechage, she bowed out to Luciana Catana of Romania.
Kelly Deguchi (-57 kg) lost her first and only bout in Ljubljana to Binta Ndiaye of Switzerland.
For more information:
Patrick Esparbès
Chief Operating Officer
Judo Canada
(514) 668-6279
p.esparbes@judocanada.org