Algerian judoka Waïl Ezzine (-66 kg) was beaten Friday by Azeri Yashar Najafov in the second round of the Portuguese Grand Prix, which takes place from January 27 to 29 in Almada. Poured into Pool “B”, Wail Ezzine had started by winning his first fight against the Portuguese Bruno Bento, but he did not last long, since he was eliminated in the next round.
Algeria is represented by four athletes in this tournament (two men and two women). These are Driss Messaoud in the under 73 kilos (men), as well as Belkadi Amina and Sonia Asselah respectively in the under 63 kilos and over 78 kilos (ladies). Driss Messaoud inherited Pool “D”, where he will start against Frenchman Luca Otmane. In the event of qualification, he will be opposed to the Spaniard Salvador Cases Roca, who was exempted from the first round.
For her part, Belkadi Amina was placed in Pool “A”, where she was exempted from the first round. She will therefore start directly in the second, against the Ukrainian Anastasiia Antipina. Ditto for her compatriot Sonia Asselah, who was exempted from the first round in Pool “B” over 78 kilos. She will therefore start directly in the second, against the winner of the fight between the Polish Kinga Wolszczak and the Kazakh Akerke Ramazanova. The competition attracted the participation of a total of 580 judokas (344 men and 236 women), representing 83 countries, from five continents.
With 37 judokas entered (20 men and 17 women), Portugal, the host country of the competition, is the best represented, ahead of France and Kazakhstan, having entered 25 athletes each, at a time when certain countries such as South Africa and Uruguay entered only one athlete each.
