Last Saturday, the twelfth ‘Memorial Rosone‘ was held in Rome, at the Polisportiva Castelverde, a team competition involving the various regional representatives of the national territory.
On the occasion of this event, the competitive manager of Emilia Romagna Michael Zoffoli called together the athletes who ranked in the highest positions in the various rankings.
Riccardo Santoro, an athlete from Cesena from the Kodokan team, also managed to qualify for this event. Selected in the 81 kilogram Juniores/seniors category, Santoro defended the colors of the regional representative Do Uisp with style and tenacity.
At the end of a demanding day, the Emilia Romagna representative, coordinated by the Kodokan instructor from Cesena Michael Zoffoli, qualified in second place, with a Santoro in great shape who was able to lead an excellent fight (Randori) against an opponent extremely strong. The team only surrendered to the hosts due to one more lost fight, which left them 3-2 behind the Roman athletes.
At the end of the day, despite the tiredness and the desire to bring the coveted trophy home, the spirit of judo emerged where respect and friendship created greater unity between the athletes of the various teams. On Sunday morning Michael Zoffoli and Riccardo Santoro participated in the training held by the national competitive commission. In addition to this positive experience, the boys from Cesena also took home new ideas to implement at Kodokan.
The next appointment for the masters Vladimiro Burioli, Francesco Di Leonforte and the instructor Michael Zoffoli will be on the occasion of the national technicians’ internship in Rome.