Japanese talents dominate at Belgian Open Herstal

Two Canadian women distinguished themselves on Saturday at the International Belgian Open. In the women’s tournament in Herstal, Heidi Quach (-48 kg) and Evelyn Beaton (-52 kg) won bronze medals in the junior competition. John Jr Messé A Bessong (+100 kg) finished fifth in his weight division in Visé. The Japanese team dominated the event in herstal though with a handful of gold medals over the seven weight categories on Saturday.

Quach started the day strong, winning her first three bouts in the pool phase. She defeated Elsa Jouanneau of France, Zoé Hamdan of Germany, and Megan Warners of the Netherlands back-to-back to advance to the main draw, where she ousted Asal Ghaffar of Germany in the first round. Her next fight was against Adachi Mito of Japan, who won the bout by ippon and later went on to capture the category’s gold medal.

However, Quach bounced back in the bronze medal final with a win over Maud Rikmanspoel of the Netherlands. According to Canadian coach Janusz Pawlowski, the Québécoise’s ability to anticipate her opponents’ moves was key to her podium finish on Saturday.

“Heidi was great today. She fought well against [Mito], and her defense was excellent. Some of her moves were spectacular. She has a great capacity to predict what’s coming. It’s an instinct that few athletes possess, and it was the key to her great results. She had a great day,” he said.

In the same weight class, Marie-Lune Turmel lost her first two fights of the day in Herstal.

Evelyn Beaton won her two opening bouts against Emma Van Leeuwen of the Netherlands and Nina Güth of Germany. However, she hit a roadblock in the first elimination round, losing to Shanice Maya Luis of the Netherlands.

The loss did not faze Beaton, who rallied in the repechage to defeat Leonie Wickert of Germany before edging out Tabea Mecklenburg, also of Germany, in the bronze medal final.

“Evelyn had some great fights early in the day. At certain points, she was fully in control. Even during the fight she lost, she controlled the match well, but she made an error that ended up being decisive. But she kept her head up and fought well for the bronze medal at the end of the day,” explained Pawlowski.