A delegation from the Argentine Judo Confederation (CAJ) traveled to Europe to participate in a series of competitions and Training Camps, with a view to the XIX Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile -to be held at the end of October and beginning of November of this year – and to the Olympic Games in Paris 2024.
BIG RIVER.- Said group was initially made up of 5 athletes, among whom was Mariano Coto from Tierra del Fuego, in the category of up to 90 kilos.
The first stop on the tour of the Old World was in Belgium, fighting last weekend (Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 January), and taking part in the Herstal Campus between Monday 30 and today.
The batch of judokas will then move to Parías (France), where several of the wrestlers will compete in the Grand Slam of the French capital, one of the world’s highest-level competitions, to be held this Saturday the 4th and Sunday the 5th.
A week later, on Saturday the 11th and Sunday the 12th, in Sofia –the capital of Bulgaria- the European Open will take place, at the end of the trip for the Argentines.
In detail
The men fought in Visé, a French-speaking municipality of about 17,000 people, located in eastern Belgium, near Liège, and the border with the Netherlands.
In the -90 kilos division there were a total of 38 participants, putting together 4 keys. In zone B, Coto fell in his debut against Paul Livolsi, from France, by ippon, both judokas being sanctioned with a shido or penalty.
In the repechage for the scoring positions (from 3rd to 7th place), the wrestler who emerged from the Rio Grande Municipal Judo School beat Willem Vrieling (Netherlands) in the first round, by ippon; succumbing later against Alexandre Arencibia (Canada), by committing his third shido, decreeing automatic victory for his opponent.
The title of this division was held by Teo L’Herbier (France), winner in the final at Floris Den Hartog (Netherlands), completing the podium with Frenchman Max Laborde and Dutchman Mistral Janssen.
his companions
The best performance among the Argentines was for Agustín Gil from Córdoba, at -81 kilos, the immediately lower category in which Coto works.
The Mediterranean, who had been the only Argentine champion in the XIII South American Games, held in October 2022, in Asunción del Paraguay (and where the Fuegian won the silver medal), achieved one of the bronze medals on this occasion.
After four victories (three before the limit, and the rest by wazari), he lost in the final of the A/B brackets (semifinal of the contest) with Etienne Delvert, who scored a wazari and then an ippon, both receiving a penalty.
The aforementioned Frenchman would win the gold medal, thanks to the victory by ippon against his compatriot Ibrahim Keita. At the same time that Gil, in the definition of the bronze, equaled in ippon with the Canadian Jumber Meladze, until the North American incurred his third foul and led to the triumph of the athlete from our country.
The remaining medal of similar metal corresponded to Yoshito Hojo (Japan) -loser in the other semifinal with Keita-, beating Tom Libert (France) by two scores.
The third Argentine in the competition was Ivo Dargoltz, framed in the -100 kilos bracket D, where there were 25 participants. In his debut, he lost by wazari to Lars Vissers (Netherlands).
Already in the play-offs, Kevin Turcotte (Canada) defeated him, whom he subdued with a wazari and the subsequent ippon; for him he could not with Thomas Courtois (France), being eliminated by accumulation of shidos.
Kylian Bulthuis (Netherlands) climbed to the top of the podium, with British Oliver Barratt being runner-up, while Frenchmen Marc-Ewn Codjogan and Marc Francois Ngayap each obtained bronzes.
Women
In nearby Herstal – with 40,000 inhabitants and famous for its firearms factory created at the end of the 19th century – the women’s tournament took place, first in groups and then in knockout brackets.
In Zone 2 of -63 kilos, Agustina De Lucía fell by ippon against Lili Nguyen (Paris Saint Germain Judo), in extra time (the fight lasted 7 minutes and 18 seconds).
Then he defeated Maartje Daamen (Talent Basenl) and the Italian Nicolle D’Isanto (Italy Fiame Azzurre) by wazari, first in the group with 2 ippon victories (20 points), the same performance as Nguyen (whom he beat before the limit). With her two victories by the slightest difference, the woman from Corrientes placed third (2 points), and Daamen closed the positions (with three setbacks).
In the decisive stage, Nguyen was 7th, and in the final, Perrine Saint Etienne (Eure Judo) defeated Kamille Nalbat (Talentbasenl) by wazari.
Finally, in Group 7 of -57 kilos, Brisa Gómez lost with wazari to Nouhaila Harachi (Flam 91), and by ippon (3:23) to Julie Beurskens (Netherlands), who won the stage by overcoming in 0:55 to the Belgian In the final of the tournament, a wazari gave the title to Hina Igarashi (Japan) over the European.
