Shady El Nahas' gold completes successful weekend for Canadian judokas in Georgia
Montreal resident wins under-100 kg class to claim 1st judo Grand Slam victory
Canada's Shady El Nahas clinched men's under 100–kilogram gold at a judo Grand Slam event in Tbilisi, Georgia on Sunday.
The Montreal resident defeated local favourite Illia Sulamanidze to claim his first-ever Grand Slam victory on the final day of competition.
It was Canada's second gold and fourth-overall medal at the event.
On Saturday, Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard also topped the podium in the women's under-63 kg class. While Arthur Margelidon took silver in the men's under-73 kg competition.
Canada's first medal came courtesy of Christa Deguchi, a bronze in the women's -57 kg on Friday.
El Nahas' win, however, came down to the finally 30 seconds.
With the score tied at 0-0, El Nahas finally broke the deadlock, sending Sulamanidze onto his back.
Sensing his victory, El Nahas gladly accepted a pair of non-combativity penalties to safely see out the clock.
A fitting end to a brilliant tournament for Canada's Judokas, who finished the weekend ranked second, behind Georgia, in the overall, national-medal standings.
