Nanaimo’s Alicia Fiandor is a top Judo Canada prospect, just as she was last year.
The Nanaimo Judo Club standout has been invited back to travel and train with the national team on another European tour this month.
She competed at a tournament this past weekend in Coimbra, Portugal, and is now participating in a training camp there before she heads to Thuringia, Germany for another tourney and more training.
Fiandor’s inclusion on the national team comes after her performance at Judo Canada’s Elite Invitational championships in Montreal on Jan. 7-8, when she won a silver medal in her U18 division and a bronze in the senior division.
She told the News Bulletin last week she was “in good fighting shape” and anticipating doing well at the Europe events.
“I think so. I’ll be a little bit better prepared than last year,” she said.
Her national team training has raised her game.
“I feel like it’s helped me prepare a lot better for not just Canadian tournaments, but when I go to other, higher-level competitions I know what to expect,” she said.
Fiandor has found that some of the European judoka are stronger than the opponents she’s used to facing, and have superior standing technique.
“I’ve been working a lot on gripping and movement, so hopefully I can use that to my advantage,” she said.
In other local judo news, two club athletes medalled at the Edmonton International on March 11-12. Akela Szasz placed silver in her U18 class, while Korin Gardner placed silver in U16. The event, at the West Edmonton Mall, attracted 900 athletes.
For more information about the club, please visit www.nanaimojudoclub.ca.
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