SPORTS DESK
Islamabad (October 7, 2021):-On the eve of the competition, President Marius Vizer had the pleasure of attending a concert of famous artists and IJF Ambassador Al Bano Carrisi, organised by the International Judo Federation. Al Bano was accompanied by his own musician and also performed together with Italian pop group Ricchi e Poveri as well as many artists from Russia, Romania and other countries. During the concert, the city mayor, the IJF President and Al Bano came together on the stage for a friendly moment where President Vizer presented Mayor Settimo Nizzi with the IJF gold medal.
Junior Worlds: Viva l'Italia!
It’s the first world championships organised after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games! The Junior World Championships, Olbia 2021, delivered impressive judo throughout day one of the event. Being a top seed always offers more chances to be present in the final block of an international event. Still, this is not always a 100% guarantee, especially with the juniors who are still sometimes looking for their own judo style.
Just before the start of the final block, the opening ceremony of the event took place in the presence of the Mayor of Olbia, Mr. Settimo Nizzi, the President of the Italian Judo Wrestling Karate Martial Arts Federation, Mr Domenico Falcone and the IJF President, Mr Marius Vizer.
Settimo Nizzi declared, "Today is the opening of the great event that we've been waiting for, for so long. After the Veterans and Kata World Championships that were held in this city a few years ago, we are happy to welcome the international judo family to Olbia again. Judo is very popular among our population. Sport unites people. I thank the IJF President, Marius Vizer, who gave us the opportunity to host this championship. I thank the Italian Federation and Judo Sardinia for organising it. I am sure that we will have the pleasure of being part of a great competition, which will illustrate the values of the sport."
Domenico Falcone said, "I am very happy to welcome you all to Olbia. This is the first world championship after the Tokyo Olympic Games and future champions will start their judo career here. Thank you to Marius Vizer for the confidence. Thank you to the Mayor of Olbia and the Sardinian authorities. Thank you to the organisers and all the volunteers. I wish you all good luck and success."
Then Marius Vizer took the floor, “It’s a great moment to organise the Junior World Championships, during the time of Covid. I want to thank all participants and national federations for all their efforts. I also want to address all our consideration to the Mayor of the city of Olbia and to the Sardinian region, as well as the European Judo Union, the Italian Judo Federation and all those involved in making this event a success. Welcome to you all and I declare the 2021 Junior World Championships, Olbia, Sardinia, Italy, open."
-48kg: Bravo Scutto for Italy
For the host country of a world championship, securing a medal from day one is always very important. By qualifying for the -48kg final, Assunta Scutto (ITA) was able to bring a smile to the faces of the entire Italian delegation. Perhaps the hardest part remained though, against Russia's Irena Khubulova, who also qualified for the final.
In less than one minute, Italy could already say that this edition of the Junior World Championships were a success, as Assunta Scutto scored a clear ippon with an osae-komi-waza technique applied on the edge of the competition area.
Assunta Scutto said, "I have so many emotions that it is hard to explain. Today it was my day but I did not know that this morning. I wanted to win because it is a world title and because I’m at home. I was so nervous in the first round that it became my toughest contest. The rest was just perfect."
The first bronze medal contest saw the second chance for Italy to step on the podium, with Asia Avanzato facing Anastasiia Balaban (BUL), winner of the Prague Junior European Cup in July 2021. With the bronze medal matches taking place at the beginning of the final block, Asia Avanzato (ITA) was very happy to offer the first medal to her delegation, after she scored a waza-ari with a low-o-soto-gari. It’s a good start for Italy.
Rafaela Batista (BRA), silver medallist at the 2021 Pan American Junior Championships and Léa BERES (FRA), bronze medallist at the last Junior European Championships, qualified for the second bronze medal contest. 38 seconds were enough for the Brazilian athlete to win bronze after she applied a shime-waza that gave no chance to the French competitor.
Final:
SCUTTO Assunta (ITA) vs KHUBULOVA Irena (RUS)
Bronze Medal Contests
AVANZATO Asia (ITA) vs BALABAN Anastasiia (BUL)
BATISTA Rafaela (BRA) vs BERES Lea (FRA)
Final Results
1. SCUTTO Assunta (ITA)
2. KHUBULOVA Irena (RUS)
3. AVANZATO Asia (ITA)
3. BATISTA Rafaela (BRA)
5. BALABAN Anastasiia (BUL)
5. BERES Lea (FRA)
7. NASCIMENTO Alexia (BRA)
7. GOMEZ ANTONA Gemma Maria (ESP)
-60kg: Sardalashvili Scores for Georgia
Romain Valadier Picard was the obvious favourite and top seed of the category, having won the 2021 European Championships with style and the Frenchman started very well, but he found a strong and tactical opponent with Turan Bayramov (AZE) in the quarter-final, who defeated the French judoka after the latter was penalised a third time for stepping out of the mat. The rule is clear: when you are close to the edge, you need to escape. Valadier Picard did this by attacking outside when he could have simply avoided the edge of the mat. So Turan Bayramov faced the Georgian, Giorgi Sardalashvili, in the final.
Sardalashvili won the junior world title after performing a counter attack for waza-ari, inscribing his name on the list of future Georgian heroes.
Giorgi Sardalashvili said, "The secret of Georgian judo is hard work. We train and we listen to our coaches. I train with Lasha Bekauri; we have the same coach. Today I wanted to be as good as him."
Disappointed by his defeat in the quarter-final, Romain Valadier Picard found the ressources to win his repechage match to enter the bronze medal contest against Yam Wolczak of Israel, which he also won with a beautiful waza-ari, scored with a precise kata-guruma.
The second bronze medal contest saw Sherzod Davlatov (KAZ) and Kamoliddin Bakhtiyorov Kamoliddin (UZB) competing for a place on the podium. With a superb shoulder movement, Davlatov won the bronze medal.
Final
BAYRAMOV Turan (AZE) vs SARDALASHVILI Giorgi (GEO)
Bronze Medal Contests
VALADIER PICARD Romain (FRA) vs WOLCZAK Yam (ISR)
DAVLATOV Sherzod (KAZ) vs BAKHTIYOROV Kamoliddin (UZB)
Final Results
1. SARDALASHVILI Giorgi (GEO)
2. BAYRAMOV Turan (AZE)
3. VALADIER PICARD Romain (FRA)
3. DAVLATOV Sherzod (KAZ)
5. WOLCZAK Yam (ISR)
5. BAKHTIYOROV Kamoliddin (UZB)
7. SHATIRISHVILI Shakro (GEO)
7. PARCHIEV Abu-Muslim (RUS)
-52kg: France Climbs on Top of the Medal Podium With Devictor
Once again the host country qualified an athlete for the final, as Giulia Carna won her ticket after convincing victories against Sheily Lopez (GUA), Teresa Santos (POR), Marina Castello Diez (ESP) and Erza Muminoviq (KOS). To face her in the final was Chloe Devictor of France, who had a serious and consistant road to get there, having been seeded number two at the beginning of the day.
Over-motivated by the victory of her teammate Scutto in the lower category, Carna stepped on the mat convinced that she could achieve the same feat but Devictor did not have the same opinion. During a very tactical match, the French fighter pushed her to get penalised and counterattacking her for a waza-ari, that offered the first gold medal of the championship to team France.
Chloe Devictor said, "In the quarterfinal I had a very tactical match and a very physical one in the semi. The final was both tactical and physical. All day long I had tough and different styles to fight against and I felt that my opponents have studied my judo. It was hard but great. We have a good team, we are friends and we set the pace from this very first day. That means we are doing the right thing."
In the first bronze medal contest Sabina Aliyeva (AZE) competed against Binta Ndiaye (SUI), who eventually won the medal.
The second bronze medal contest saw Ariane Toro Soler (ESP) and Erza Muminoviq (KOS) competing for a medal. The medal went to Kosovo via Erza Muminoviq, who might be one of the next judo stars from her small country.
