Reyes is golden, El-Nahas takes bronze at Judo Grand Slam in Abu Dhabi
Two Canadians climbed the men’s -100kg podium at the Judo Grand Slam in Abu Dhabi. No one was able to stop Kyle Reyes as he claimed the gold medal. Teammate Shady El-Nahas captured bronze.
29-year-old Reyes defeated Spain’s Nikoloz Sherazadishvili for his first Grand Slam gold medal.
In the final, the left-handed judoka first took down Romanian Asley Gonzalez by a well prepared waza-ari. This fight was very interesting and arguably the most tactical of the morning. This meant Reyes had just one Spaniard to beat to receive the crown.
The final was the most tense of all, with both athletes very sure of what they were doing. It was a clean fight between the two attackers. The Spaniard tried to impose his uchi-mata and the Canadian tried to counteract it. On Sherazadishvili’s last attempt, the referees deemed him diving and he was disqualified. Reyes won the gold, while the Spaniard took silver.
This win marks his fourth Grand Slam medal. To date he has one gold and three silver medals.
El-Nahas defeated Azerbaijani Elmar Gasimov in one of two bronze medal fights. El-Nahas has eight Grand Slam medals, including one gold, two silver and five bronze.
Also in action, François Gauthier-Drapeau finished in fifth position in the men’s -81kg competition.
The Canadian judokas will head to Azerbaijan, Baku from November 4 – 6 for their next Grand Slam.
