Berlin (pm/pf) – The International Judo Aviation Masters Berlin took place in the German capital on Saturday in the Treptow-Köpenick district. Judokas from over 20 nations, including the USA, Mexico, Australia and Japan, took part. The tournament was also well attended by judges, some of whom had IJF licenses. Christian Krüger from 1.Fuldaer JC was there.
After a bye, Krüger’s weight class -66 kilograms started against Joschka Gerasch from 1.Berliner JC. Christian dominated the fight from the start and achieved the necessary two Waza-ari scores for victory with Tai-otoshi after 15 and 70 seconds.
In the following semi-final it was against the runner-up and multiple third place in the Danish national championships, Mads Waadenseholt. Neither could score in the first few minutes. One had the impression that the Dane was losing more fitness and Christian Krüger wanted to rely on his endurance and strength in the Golden Score. After more than three minutes of fighting, Krüger was surprised by the Dane with Seoi-otoshi and was therefore one score behind. His tactic of playing for time went wrong. With ten seconds left, things got complicated. The Dane used a Seoi-otoshi again, which was countered by the Fulda player with a Tani-otoshi. The referee gave Krüger a tie for this action. However, there was an objection from the head referee, who watched the action on video and decided on Ippon because the Dane still hooked his leg and used a Ko-uchi-makikomi technique.
Having missed the fight against the eventual tournament winner with anger and disappointment, we now went into the fight for third place. An old acquaintance from Austria was waiting there. Manuel Aigner from SV Gallneukirchen was left behind in the semi-finals of the Liechtenstein championships this year. With great determination, Kilogram threw Seoi-otoshi Ippon after ten seconds with his special technique and secured the bronze medal in Berlin.
With this tournament, Christian Krüger ended a successful year with four first places, eight second places and now the only third place. The championship with his team TG Schwalbach in the Oberliga and thus promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga in 2025 is also a considerable success.
