SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Elianat Jaillet and Noah Hache, both from Yellowknife, were big winners at the Edmonton International Judo Championships at West Edmonton Mall on April 3.

Elianta Jaillet, left, and Noah Hache were the two big Yellowknife winners at the Edmonton International Judo Championships at West Edmonton Mall on April 3. Jaillet won gold in the U-11girls 33-kg category, while Hache snagged silver in the U-13 girls 57-kg category. - photo courtesy of Maxence Jaillet

Jaillet was a gold medal winner in the U-11 girls 33-kg division and Hache won a silver medal in the U-13 girls 57-kg category.

Jaillet said she was happy with her performance.

"I had a small category, but I still had fun competing," she said.

The nine-year-old Jaillet only had to fight in two matches within her division and managed to win both of them on her way to gold. Her first win came by waza-ari (half point) and her gold-medal winning match was a victory by ippon (one point). Hache also only had two matches and lost her first match by ippon, but won her second match by ippon after executing a ground move and holding it in place properly for 25 seconds.

Jaillet said she was nervous before fighting, but she had her own way of settling herself down before hitting the mats.

"I went and met the other two girls I would be competing against and we got to know each other, so it wasn't so bad after that," she said. "The first match I had was really easy because she was really light, but the second one was more of a challenge."

Coach Maxence Jaillet served as coach for the trip and he said both girls conducted themselves well.

"They've trained really hard for this," he said. "We identified those two because of their willingness to improve and they both have the ability to compete and they can do the hard training needed."

Jaillet himself was a winner also at the event, nabbing silver in the veteran men's category, despite it having been 15 years since his last official competition.

Coach Jaillet was also impressed at how the girls were able to keep their composure in the environment of a large scale mall, where the mats were placed right in the middle of what is normally used as the skating rink.

"You're watched by hundreds of people at one time and it was a perfect venue to be in," he said.

Elianta herself was also nervous about the crowds, especially what they would think of her.

"I told my dad I didn't want to have anyone laughing at me if I made a mistake," she said.

The association is now off to Hay River this weekend for a judo festival at Ecole Boreale which will include judoka from here, Hay River and Fort Simpson.

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