Grande Prairie's Sydney Kinderwater (left) is now ranked as the second best fighter in Canada with her silver medal performance (Photo Credit: Elite National Judo Championships)

By Shane Clausing

Judo championships

Sydney Kinderwater of Grande Prairie wins silver at Judo nationals in Montreal

Jan 15, 2020 | 5:00 AM

Sydney Kinderwater of Grande Prairie won a silver medal at the Elite National Judo Championships in Montreal this past weekend. It was her first time participating in nationals.

The three-day event saw eight of the best Judo fighters in Canada compete against each other for the national title. Kinderwater qualified as a wild card entry in the tournament.

Participants have to qualify for the competition through a point system. To get points, you have to win fights.

Though the 15-year-old Kinderwater didn’t have enough points, Judo Canada allowed her to qualify for nationals because of her past record against top opponents. Most of the top opponents she faced she had beat in the past.

“It was the first time I qualified for elite nationals, so it was a great opportunity,” said Kinderwater.

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In order to make it to the finals, Kinderwater had to win every fight she had. If you lost one fight in the tournament, the highest you could finish would be third place.

The folks at Judo Canada made the right call, as Kinderwater made it to the finals, and also did it while beating a black belt in the process.

“I really want to be promoted to a brown belt soon, I was the lowest belt in the competition, but I came out on top of the podium so I think it might be time,” she said.

In the final fight, Kinderwater had some familiarity with who she was fighting. She fought a girl from Manitoba who she had fought several times before.

“I knew it was going to be a long fight. I’ve fought her lots and she’s really talented. We went into golden score, she had two penalties already, but she came in with the last exchange about seven minutes into the fight.”

While Kinderwater fell short of the gold, she said that it was a really close fight.

The result of the fights now puts her as the second-best Judo fighter in Canada for her division.

Kinderwater’s busy 2020 season continues next month when she travels to Airdrie for the Alberta Winter Games. She’ll also compete in tournaments in Vancouver, Edmonton and potentially an invitational tournament in Spain.

Kinderwater fights out of the GP Martial Arts Club and is coached by Carlos Grisales.