A total of eleven ÖJV judoka, eight of them in individual competitions, will be competing from Thursday to Sunday at the European Youth Championships in Sofia (BUL, June 27th – 30th). No one from the red-white-red team is set to compete. “But we have a chance of achieving top-7 placings every day, and ideally medals too,” believe national coaches Martin Grafl and Bernhard Weißsteiner. “Medals are not the primary goal in the U-18s. The more we achieve a placing, the better. This means we have a realistic chance of getting a few of them into the national team,” is the calculation of ÖJV sports director Markus Moser. The average age of the European Championship squad is a very low 15.3 years. The Stögmann twins Isabella (-48) and Stefan (-60/team) and Michaela Höllwart (+70) are only 14. The oldest member of the ÖJV team is Felix Einfinger (-73) at 17 years old. A total of 511 young athletes from 44 nations will be competing in Bulgaria over the four days of competition.
A side note: Claire Pröll, 16, is already the fourth judoka in her family to take part in a junior European Championship or European Youth Games. Brother Michael finished seventh in the EYOF last year in Marburg (SLO), Ronald won bronze at the Youth European Championship in Porec (CRO) in 2022 and Richard also qualified for the Youth Games (2019 Baku/AZE).
The playing times and opening opponents of the ÖJV judoka, Youth European Championships Sofia 2024 (U-18, 7th – 30th June), Thursday, 1st day of competition (preliminary round: 09:30, opening: 16:00, final block: 16:30), – 48 kg (42 starters), 1st round: Lena Mayrhofer (UJZ Mühlviertel/OÖ) – Alice Sloth Hansen (DEN, already 3rd this year at the Youth European Cup in Berlin), Isabella Stögmann (Askö Reichraming/OÖ) – Indy Pannegieter (NED);
Friday, 2nd competition day (09:30/16:30), -57 (36), 1st R.: Katharina Mikota (UJZ Mühlviertel/OÖ) – Viktorja Kergalve (LAT), -63 (35), 1st R.: Mavie Rabl (JZ Innsbruck/T) – Ilariia Tsurkan (UKR/No. 4);
Saturday, 3rd day of competition (10:30/16:30), -70, 1st round: Claire Pröll (UJZ Mühlviertel/OÖ) – Maria Eleni Papaioannou (GRE), +70, 1st round: Michaela Höllwart – Sema Mete (TUR), in round 2 the number 1 Zuzanna Banaszewska (POL, third in the Youth World Championships last year) would be waiting, -90, 1st round: Lorenz Horngacher (JZ Innsbruck/T) – Huzeyn Eyvazli (AZE), +90, 1st round: Vardges Ghazaryan (SU Karuna/W) – Catelin Plesca (MDA), in round 2 Nodar Kobaladze (GEO/2) would be waiting.
Sunday, 4th day of competition (10:30/16:00), mixed team (Stefan Stögmann/Askö Reichraming/OÖ/-60, Felix Einfinger/JZ Innsbruck/T/-73 and Christian Greiner/JC Sparkasse Wimpassing/NÖ/-81 complete the squad), 17 nations compete, Judo Austria will face Lithuania in the opening match, after which Georgia (in round 1 against GRE) would most likely be waiting.
2024-06-26 19:04:08
#role #outsider #Judo #Austria
