Member News

September 22, 2006

Rendez-Vous Canada Women’s Middle and Heavyweight Preview

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Athens Olympian Ronda Rousey (Santa Monica, Calif. / NYAC) is the frontrunner among the Americans to win her third gold medal on Saturday at the Rendez-Vous Canada, a Senior Elite B-Level Tournament in Montreal.

Also watch for 70kg players Katie Mocco (Scotia, N.Y. / NYAC / Jason Morris Judo Center) and Kayla Harrison (Middletown, Ohio / Renshuden Judo Club) who each are likely picks to win a medal in Canada.

The complete breakdown of the women’s middle- and heavyweight divisions is as follows:

Women’s 63kg (Estimated Division Size: 25)

Ronda Rousey (Santa Monica, Calif. / NYAC), the fourth-ranked 63kg athlete in the world, will be competing for her third Rendez-Vous title this weekend.  Rousey has defeated most of her Canadian opponents previously, but her chief adversary continues to be medal Marie-Helene Chisholm, a fifth-place finisher at both the 2004 Olympic Games and 2005 World Championships.  The two last fought twice at the Belgium Open with Rousey taking both wins, including one in overtime.  Hitomi Tokuhisa, a two-time World Cup Champion, and Sayaka Tsuruoka are Japan’s representatives in this division and should be watched carefully as well.

Americans to Watch:  Kristen Allan (Springfield, Va. / Sport Judo), 2006 Senior Nationals silver medalist, finished seventh here last year while Anastasia Krivosta (Smithtown, N.Y. / Smithtown Judo), five-time Senior Nationals medalist, also has potential to break into the medal rounds here.  Collegiate National Champion Corinne Geier (San Jose, Calif. / San Jose State University), Christine Ellis (Westfield, N.J. / Cranford Judo) and Natasha Newsom (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Olympic Training Center USA Judo National Training Site).  Pauline Macias (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Olympic Training Center USA Judo National Training Site), a 2006 Pan Am Junior Team member at 57kg, has moved up to 63kg for this event.

Women’s 70kg (Estimated Division Size: 16)

This division may be best named as “The Battle of the Catherines” with Catherine Jacques representing Belgium and Catherine Roberge fighting for Canada.  Jacques comes in as the more pedigreed of the two with a top-five World Ranking, a bronze medal at the 2005 World Championships and a fifth place finish at the Athens Olympic Games to her name.  That said, Roberge is a four-time World Cup medalist in her own right and defeated Jacques at last year’s Paris Super World Cup.  Katie Mocco (Scotia, N.Y. / NYAC / Jason Morris Judo Center) has improved greatly over the past year and the 2005 Rendez-Vous silver medalist should be counted on to see match time in the medal rounds.  Yoshimi Shichijo (JPN), a bronze medalist at the 2000 World Juniors, will play a factor in this division as well.  Sixteen-year-old Kayla Harrison (Middletown, Ohio / Renshuden) is the unofficial dark horse of this division.  Harrison, a 2006 Junior World Team member, has grown rapidly over the past three years, blasting from 48kg to 70kg in record time and although she’s on the smaller side of 70kg she is the reigning Senior National Champion at 70kg and went 1-2 to nearly upset Mocco at the Pan American Trials in April.

Americans to Watch:  Collegiate Champion Tomoyo Yoshinaga (San Jose, Calif. / San Jose State) finished fifth at last year’s Open and could crack the placings here as well.

Women’s 78kg (Estimated Division Size: 13)

Agnieszka Chlipala (POL) and Marylise Levesque (CAN) are likely candidates for gold as both athletes won World Cup bronze medals earlier this year.  Japan’s Asami Hiraoka is another likely podium contender as well as Molly O’Rourke (El Cerrito, Calif. / East Bay Judo Institute) who won bronze here last year and earned her first World Cup placing in April with a fifth-place finish in Birmingham.

Americans to Watch:  Junior World Team member Marina Shafir (Latham, N.Y. / Jason Morris Judo Center) has won in Canada before, but has yet to place at the Rendez-Vous.  Asma Sharif (Huntington Beach, Calif. / West Covina) was a long-time competitor at 70kg but hopes for a good placing here after finishing fifth at the Senior Nationals.

Women’s +78kg (Estimated Division Size: 6)

Olia Berger (CAN) is a five-time Pan American medalist, but hasn’t won Rendez-Vous since 2003.  Keiko Magome (JPN) could challenge Berger for the gold while Junior World Team member Brittni Bradford (Land O’Lakes, Fla. / St. Pete Judo) is a likely contender for her first senior international medal.