Mannheim. “I’ve never experienced anything like this at a youth tournament. In the class up to 60 kilograms there were fights that lasted 15 or even 20 minutes – and it really got down to business. It was spectacular,” enthuses Marco Welz about the 45th Wolfgang Welz Memorial Tournament of the 1st Mannheim Judo Club, which the son of the eponymous club has been organizing for many years. “Regular fight time is four minutes. After that, the golden score counts, so the competition ends with the first rating. That it then goes on for so long only happens at a World Cup,” Welz himself has many years of experience as an active judoka.
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He is all the more pleased that one of these exceptional fighters comes from the region: Felix Bächle from JSC Heidelberg, who came third in his weight class at his premiere in one of the most important tournaments for the U20s. He won the first two rounds, in the semifinals he was defeated by the eventual winner Lenny Burk (Leipzig). In the battle for third place, he got the better of Jonas Purschke (Dessau), whom he had already defeated at the start. “Felix fought on the mat for a total of one hour, what a condition,” says Welz, paying tribute to the talent.
Lion Welz debuts
35 years after his own victory, the name Welz was back in the starting class for the first time, because his 17-year-old son Lion made his debut at the traditional tournament, which was also a national sighting. “He’s only been doing judo since Corona, so he still has a lot to learn. But he sold well against the much older competition, fought well twice,” commented the father on the performance under the eyes of the U-21 national coach Andreas Tölzer and the Mannheim sports celebrities Sabine Hamann (sports district), Uwe Kaliske (sports department and leisure) and Nina Wellenreuther (municipal council).
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A total of 160 judoka took to the mats in the Lilli-Gräber-Halle in Friedrichsfeld, and the mood was high. “A few weeks ago I would not have thought that we would be able to go through the tournament because we lacked helpers,” says Welz, thanking the “super crew” from the 1st MJC, the Rhein-Neckar-Fighters and from the JSC Heidelberg. sd
