Isabel Latulippe places fifth in Leonding

Isabel Latulippe from St. Hubert, Quebec placed fifth today at the Judo World Cup event in Leonding, Austria. The Canadian came short of a bronze medal after losing by ippon to Yanet Bermoy from Cuba in the Under-48 kg category. “I’m satisfied with my performance in spite of this result,” she said. “I’ve got my ticket for the World Championships in September in Cairo after winning a bronze medal last week in Bulgaria so I’m only trying to gain experience at this point.”

Latulippe first lost to Ana Hormigo from Portugal before she took care of Russian Yana Serbova and Marie Virginie from France, both by ippon. “I was ready to face the Cuban. She grabbed me at the right time, swept me and I fell behind. It’s not a big deal and I’m looking to face her again at the Pan-Am championships in Puerto Rico in May,” she promised.

Isabelle Pearson from Boucherville, QC lost her two bouts in the Under-63 kg event. She first lost to Urska Zolnir from Slovenia who went on to the gold medal. “It was a huge battle right from the start and I lost by ippon,” says Pearson. In the following round she lost to American Ronda Rousey. “I was disappointed with that loss since I had already won against her in the past. I’m expecting to meet her again next week in Germany.”

On Sunday, Canadians Catherine Roberge, Marylise Levesque and Olia Berger will be in action

Ibanez wins one, loses two in Budapest
Meanwhile in Hungary, Gonzalo Ibanez from Saskatoon was the only Canadian competing today at the World Cup event in Budapest. Ibanez concluded his day with a victory and a pair of losses. He first defeated Russian Danil Biktimirov on a wazari, before losing to Frenchman Yohan Coliaux and Hungarian Laszlo Burjan, both by wazari.

On Sunday, Canadians Gervais Turcotte, Alexandru Ciupe, Kalem Kachur and Trevor McAlpine will compete in the Hungarian capital.