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P.A. judoka wins silver at nationals

May 24, 2018 | 2:00 PM

The second time turned out to be the charm for Prince Albert judoka Jannessa Keays, who won silver in her second nationals over the long weekend in Calgary.

“I was disappointed that I lost, but I’m happy that I won the medal,” Keays said. “For nationals I wanted to be on top, but a silver is just as good. I was one of the few that actually medalled.”

Keays won her first three matches of the tournament in her category, the Under-16, 70kg-and-over division. She beat B.C.’s Dakota Webb with an ippon (Judo’s knockout equivalent) and then bested Quebec’s Elodie Lafevebre to finish first in her pool. Keays then defeated Emma Mullet from Nova Scotia in the semifinals to advance to the gold medal match.

“Usually when you win your first match, it gives you that confidence that you can win more,” Keays said. “It shows the other competitors that you want to get what you want to get.”

Keays matched up against Ontario’s Asia Douglas for the gold medal. Douglas had beaten Keays twice earlier in the year, but that didn’t stop Keays from making the match an even, back-and-forth affair. Douglas won the match in the dying seconds.

“It was never like that before,” Keays said. “I fought her back in Montreal and Toronto. She beat me both times really quickly because I had never fought her before and I was scared, but I think it was just the training that led up to nationals that made it pretty evenly matched.”

This year’s nationals appearance was a significant improvement from a year ago, when Keays lost both of her pool matches during her debut.

 

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW