Mannheim. (zg) The Lilli-Gräber-Halle in Friedrichsfeld was all about judo on Saturday. The 1st Mannheim Judo Club had invited to the international Wolfgang Welz Memorial Tournament. It is one of the most traditional tournaments in Germany and took place for the first time in 1974, exactly 50 years ago. Every year, the screening tournament is a good way for the national coaches to look at the young talent and discover one or two talents.
After all, almost 200 judoka competed in the U20 age group, around 50 of them from abroad such as France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The German participants came from all over Germany, and fighters from Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Schwerin and Frankfurt/Oder were also there to determine their best for nine hours.
Lion Welz from the host team Mannheim took to the mat in the class up to 81 kilograms. It is no coincidence that he has the same name as the tournament, his grandfather Wolfgang was the namesake, his father Marco Welz is a coach in the club and was in charge of the tournament. However, Lion Welz was unable to take advantage of the home advantage, was clearly defeated by Francesco Schüßler from Bavaria, led against Phillip Pesterew from North Rhine-Westphalia in the consolation round – and had to admit defeat in the end.
Felix Bächle from JSC Heidelberg Rhein-Neckar did better. In the class up to 66 kilos he fought his way to the final. Things looked good there at first, but due to a longer period of fighting, concentration was lost a bit and he was countered: Waza-ari for Adam Toszegi from TSV Munich-Großhardern. Nevertheless, Bächle was able to set an example with his strong second place. The tournament was again very well received. The fighting took place at a very high level – also thanks to strong participation from neighboring countries.
In addition to the fights, there were also honors: Louis Mai from the 1st Mannheim JC was awarded second Dan for his achievements at international tournaments. In addition, MJC chairman Norbert Mahninger was awarded sixth dan. This honored his decades of commitment.