Individual medal at the DHM in judo – “Ahu, ahu, FAU!”

December 10, 2024

Ten starters from FAU and TH Nuremberg took part in this year’s German University Judo Championships in Duisburg last Saturday. The fact that the event is very well received is also reflected in the starting fields, which consist of a mix of judoka from the national team to starters from university sports. Yannick Himmelspach from the Technical University of Nuremberg presented himself really well, competing in the 73-kilo class with 67 (!) participants. After seven tough fights, he was actually able to win the bronze medal. The women’s lists weren’t quite as full, but Sarah Grünewald competed six times, won four times and took a strong 5th place. Svenja Gruber, Doan Duy Ky Le and Theresa Gehring contributed 9th places to the impressive team result. In the relentless knockout system, Maxim Koserog and Jonathan Griener did not advance to the consolation round despite two wins and one win respectively because their opponents missed out on a place in the semi-finals. Paul Braess and Luisa Schlee were unfortunately eliminated despite good fights. At the edge of the mat, Jeremy Llido supported the action as a coach, who was unable to compete due to injury.

On Sunday our mixed team started the tournament very motivated. The draw gave us a bye, but we had a strong opponent in Münster in the second round. Last year we met this team in the bronze fight, now it should be in the first fight. The team got in the perfect mood with the team saying Ahu, Ahu, FAU, fought extremely well and won the match 4-1! Then the next difficult task awaited us. There wasn’t much to gain against Hannover that day, we were sent to the consolation round with 1:4. Braunschweig was waiting there. Here too, the FAU and Ohm players showed real fighting spirit and won 4:1 in close battles. Now it was against Bonn. This is where things got really exciting, after the 3:3 draw determined the repetition of the 90 kilo class. Maxim Koserog showed some good approaches against the heavier opponent, but ultimately had to give up the fight. In the end, the WG Erlangen-Nuremberg team achieved a hard-fought and strong 7th place. In the Newcomer’s Cup, which is reserved for judoka with lower belt colors, the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg was represented by Paul Braess, whose team achieved a victory.

Report and photos by Sarah Grünewald