|
 2000
Junior World Championships - Day 1
(Men +100kg , Women -48kg, -52kg )
NABEUL, TUNISIA
- 26 OCTOBER , 2000
 Check
out our Day 1 photo gallery »
By: Matt Carter
Nabeul, TUNISIA - October
26, 2000 - With a record of 65 countries and 435 competitors, the
2000 Hyundai Junior World Judo Championships opened today under
beautiful sunny skies in Nabeul, Tunisia. An enthusiastic crowd
turned out to cheer on their hometown favourites and almost received
a medal for all their efforts as Anis Chedly of Tunisia entered
the semi finals of the +100kg category after a strong showing in
the preliminaries held earlier in the day. Unfortunately for the
popular Tunisian heavyweight, a spot on the podium was not in the
cards. Instead, the gold went to Gadji Mouslimov of Russia who defeated
a very game Italian, Paol Bianchessi in the final. Two categories
were also being contested in the women's division: -48kg and -52kg,
with Alina Dumitru (ROM) and Fabiane Hukuda (BRA) taking the top
spots in their respective categories.
+100kg
(Contest Sheet - PDF)
In the men's division, 22 judoka fought for the heavyweight title,
but the gold would go to Mouslimov, who came into the +100kg final
with impressive victories over Robert Stilwell (GBR), Marek Madzin
(SVK), Laszio Szilagyi (HUN) and eventual bronze medallist Yohei
Takai of Japan. Takai, whose left-sided Uchi-mata looked dominant
all day, was countered by a confidant looking Mouslimov and held
down for the ippon win in the quarter final. The final against Bianchessi
(ITA), although it featured the two strongest players on the day,
was somewhat anticlimactic after Bianchessi's epic battle with local
hero, Chedly (TUN) in the semi finals. During Chedly's matches,
the arena sounded more like a football stadium as the Tunisian fans
sang, clapped and banged drums to help spur on their compatriot.
Chedly, who was up by a koka going into the final minute against
Bianchessi, looked to be on his way to the finals when he was given
a shido for non-combativity with only 25 seconds remaining to level
the score. The fight ended in a draw and after a split decision
in favour of the Italian you could hear the groans of disbelief
from the silenced crowd. Never the less, Chudley received a warm
round of applause for his efforts and left the mats to prepare for
his bronze medal match against the tough Japanese player later in
the afternoon.
The match between Chudly and Takai began with both players avoiding
throws and despite repeated attempts, Takai was unable to pull of
his big left-sided Uchi-mata. Eventually he did score however, with
a nice Harai-goshi and finished off with a hold down for the ippon.
What looked so promising in the early part of the day ended up being
a 5th place for Tunisia and a bronze for Japan. In the other bronze
medal match up, Sebastia Baehr (GER) faced off against Laszio Szilagyi
(HUN). This was a tough battle and lasted the full five minutes
with Baehr scoring a yuko with Seoi-nage to secure the win.
-48kg
(Contest Sheet - PDF)
On to the women's division now starting with the 29 person strong
-48kg category. This was a very competitive group and there were
some excellent techniques shown in the early rounds including a
beautiful Te-guruma from Gereltu Erdenechimeg (MGL) against Francesca
Cognia (ITA) and a couple of nice ankle picks from Feng Gao of China.
The final was an exciting one and featured Romanian, Alina Dumitru
and Sayaka Matsumoto of the USA. Dumitru fought her way to the final
by, Hajer Barhoumi (TUN) in the second round. Barhoumi, who had
won her first round fight against Monika Gabaj (POL) to the delight
of the crowd, lost to Dumitru by a nice throw that scored her an
ippon. Dumitru then went on the beat Agnur Samat (TUR) and Gao of
China. The semi final match against Gao started out with Dumitru
scoring waza-ari with a quick Harai-goshi that one judge thought
deserved an ippon. Feng countered with two kokas, and some good
attempts at Kuchi-ki-taoshi, but it wasn't enough and the Romainian
finished her off with an classy ippon throw.
The other semi final saw Akmarak Maldabekova (KAZ) against Sayaka
Matsumoto (USA). Matsumoto, who is the daughter of IJF Researcher,
Dr. David Matsumoto, fought a strong tactical fight and won on penalties
as Maldabekova received a chui for passivity. Matsumoto had just
come off a strong 7th place finish the previous weekend at the Senior
U.S. Open in Colorado Springs, USA, and headed into the final feeling
confident. In the final Matsumoto came out fast and almost scored
with a leg pick before the match settled into a tight gripping battle.
Matsumoto, who had fought Dumitru on a previous occasion in Europe,
and had been thrown for ippon in less than 10 seconds, looked more
sure of herself in this final. Although she lost on a pick up with
20 seconds left in the match, she was happy with her silver medal
performance. In a press conference afterwards, Matsumoto spoke about
the match, "She (Dumitru) was really strong and is a great fighter.
I fought her last August in Poland and I tried to get the result
I wanted today." Unfortunately, for Matsumoto, she didn't get the
gold she wanted, but she was happy with her result and is looking
forward to future success at the senior level. That future begins
next month for the 17 year old American at the Senior Pan Am Judo
Championships in Orlando, Florida. She credited her coaches, Teri
Tekemori and 4 time U.S. Olympian Jason Morris for her success,
saying she discussed the Romanian player's strategies a lot in preparation
for this championship.
Bronze medals were awarded to Eriko Nakajima (JPN) and Gao (CHN).
Nakajima scored a lovely ippon with a drop down Seoi-nage half way
through her bronze medal contest. Her only loss of the day ironically,
came at the hands of the other bronze medallist, Feng Gao. Gao,
who looked sharp all day, ended on a high note with a stunning Ippon
Seoi-nage just 25 seconds into her bronze final against Tatia Bobalova
(RUS).
-52kg
(Contest Sheet - PDF)
The -52kg category was even larger, with 33 competitors fighting
it out for gold. That distinction went to a dynamic player from
Brazil by the name of Fabiane Hukuda. Hukuda made it to the final
with a string of ippon victories to her credit starting with K.
Murray Williams (USA) and Martine Geoffrion of Canada. Geoffrion
who was at least 5cm taller than Hukuda, opened the scoring with
a koka, but the Brazillian fought back to score an ippon with a
beautifully executed Tai-otoshi. After getting past Miriam Polak
(NED) in the quarter finals with what looked like a Sode-tsurikomi-goshi
with 20 seconds remaining, she met Joana Ramos of Portugal in the
semi final. Ramos had looked intense all day and would prove to
be a stern test for the up and coming Brazillian. However, true
to form, Hakuda caught Ramos with a perfect Tai-otoshi to earn a
birth in the final against an equally impressive Audrey Larizza
of France. Larizza earned her spot in the final by narrowly beating
Viktoria Nagy (HUN) by a shido in a hard fought semi final match
up.
In the final Hakuda put the first points on the board with a quick
right-sided drop Seoi-nage to score a koka. After a further two
and a half minutes of tough grip fighting, both players received
shido, despite their aggressiveness. As it was, the koka stood as
the winning score and you could see the joy on Hakuda's face as
she realized her goal of winning a gold medal. She kissed the mat
as she bowed off and her tears streamed down her face in a touching
display of pride as she listened to her national anthem on the podium.
The bronze medals went to Aiko Sato (JPN) and Polak (HUN). Sato
defeated Ramos (POR) with a lovely drop Seoi-nage at the 1:13 mark
of their match. Sato later commented that she was very happy with
her medal. In the other bronze medal final, Polak met with Jeannett
Wanke (GER). Up by a yuko and a koka with 1:37 remaining, Polak
injured her ankle as it appeared to buckle underneath her. However,
she showed her determination and hung on to her lead. After being
penalized for passivity, Polak put in one last attack and scored
another koka with Morote-gari to guarantee the win and the bronze
medal.
MC
Day 2 »
« Back
|
