The national highlight of judo took place in Yverdon last weekend: the Swiss individual championship. Eight judoka from JC Nippon St.Gallen qualified for the competition. The gold dream could not be fulfilled this year – but the St.Gallen team secured bronze five times.
On the first day of the competition, Carlo Laguardia (U18 -60 kg) from St. Gallen defeated Samuel Bender with two shoulder throws, each of which earned him a waza-ari (half a point). The subsequent quarter-final against Liam Hofmann was an exhausting fight that went into overtime. In the end, Laguardia had the upper hand and was able to move into the semi-finals. Here he lost to the later Swiss champion Timéo Cori. The St.Gallen native made it into the fight for bronze, where he threw Melvil Choffat with a shoulder technique after one and a half minutes and thus secured a well-deserved place on the podium.
Noemi Ruchti (U18 -57 kg) started with a win against Daria Rohner via Harai-goshi (hip throw), but then lost to eventual finalist Chiara Uhlmann. The St.Gallen native made it to the repechage round, where she didn’t let herself get down and won against Chloé Duhamel. So she was allowed to compete for bronze against Lilach Pantanowitz. Ruchti was able to turn her opponent’s attack on the ground in her favor and skillfully put her in a stranglehold, which earned her third place. Ruchti was also able to shine in the older category U21 -57 kg on Sunday. After a bye, she defeated her club colleague Maria Koster, but then lost to the eventual Swiss champion Mirja Pollheimer. Once again the St. Gallen native made it into the fight for bronze, where she countered Isabelle Clark’s attack. This earned her waza-ari (half point), which her opponent was unable to make up for before the end of the fight. Ruchti thus won her second bronze medal.
Levin Brunner (U18 -90 kg) won his first two encounters within a few seconds: he threw Tim Kobrin with Harai-goshi (hip throw), Luke Bürgisser with O-Goshi (hip throw). He then met Lorenzo Enz in the semi-finals, where his winning run was slowed down and he suffered a defeat. Brunner was then able to compete against Robin Kisa for bronze. He appeared to be very active, but he only managed the decisive attack in the last minute of the fight: he skillfully threw his opponent with a foot technique.
Samuel Syla (U21 +100 kg) secured the fifth bronze medal for JC Nippon St.Gallen after a win against Joshua Gschwend and a defeat against the eventual Swiss champion Arthur Stivenson.
Ramon Ebneter (U18 -55 kg) narrowly missed out on a podium place after two wins and two defeats and finished the tournament in an ungrateful 5th place. Maria Koster (-57 kg) also just missed out on placing in both the U21 and Elite Women.
Bilder: SJV / True Baltisberger, Pierre de Pascal
