TeamJudoAus Cadets represented Australia with great pride as they showed grit, and strength on the world stage.
The Team Judo Australia Cadets capped off the 2022 Sarajevo World Judo Championships with some promising results. Three members of the team finished in the Top-16 of their division while Kohsei Toyoshima showed his potential with a Top-7 performance in the men’s -66 kg division.
Day 1 recap
Timeo Tournier, the only TeamJudoAus Cadet in action on Day 1, looked strong in his opening round, - 55 kg, match against Yuk Yu Lam of Hong Kong. Tournier caught his opponent in a choke that led to an ippon via submission with 1:55 remaining in the regulation period.
His second-round opponent, Roy Rubinstein of Israel, would prove to be a challenge for the young Australian who was caught off-guard and thrown for an ippon with 1:25 remaining in regulation.
The loss to the eventual bronze medallist Rubinstein, meant Tournier would finish the event with a Top-16 performance.
Day 2 recap
Five TeamJudoAus Cadets were in action on Day 2.
Kimi Jost had a tough first-round draw, in the men's -66 kg division, when he came up against Nurlybek Argynbek of Kazakhstan. The two competitors were evenly matched, but Argynbek would advance after scoring a Waza-ari late in regulation.
Jules Aiberti looked strong in his first-round win over Raphael Gaanan of Canada via Waza-ari but fell short of a Top-16 finish with his second-round loss to Adam Major of Hungary.
Clarissa Vumbaca also narrowly missed out on a Top-16 finish when she was defeated by Mel Le Cam of France with a last-second Waza-ari in regulation time of their women’s -48kg second-round match.
After defeating Arslan Mulalic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the second round of the men's -60 kg, William Zollinger came up against a tough opponent in Kelvin Ray of France. The eventual silver medallist was too strong for the young Australia, winning by Waza-Ari-awasete-ippon with 2:27 left in regulation. The loss meant that Zollinger would finish the competition in the Top-16.
Following strong wins in the earlier rounds of the men's -66 kg division against Paulo Ribeiro Junior of Mozambique and Mihailo Senic of Montenegro, Kohsei Toyoshima narrowly missed out on advancing to the semi-finals after losing his quarterfinal match to Alexis Renard of France. The young Frenchman scored a Waza-ari early in the contest and was able to fend off the strong barrage of attacks from Toyoshima to secure the win in regulation time.
In his Repechage match, Toyoshima faced a tough challenge in Federico Bosis of Italy. The eventual bronze medalist, Bosis, looked strong as he defeated Toyoshima via Waza-Ari-awasete-ippon with 9 seconds remaining in the contest.
Although not the result Toyoshima was after, his performance was strong enough to see him finish in the Top-7.
Day 3 recap
Day 3 proved to be the toughest day of competition with all four TeamJudoAus Cadets losing their opening matches.
Ivona Ristevski was the first to compete in the women’s -57kg division when she faced off against Danielle Pekler of the United States. The young American procured the victory by ippon with 1:18 remaining in regulation time.
Sisters Deana Finka and Marissa Finka were next to compete in the women's -63 kg division. D. Finka fought hard against Yuliia Kuzmenko of Ukraine but lost via ippon with 1:36 remaining in regulation. Sister M. Finka also looked strong but was narrowly defeated by Serena Maddaloni of Italy who scored a Waza-ari with just 26 seconds remaining in the contest.
The final TeamJudoAus Cadet competitor on Day 3 was Keishin Ochi who faced off against Dimitrije Savic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the second round men's -73 kg division. The two young judokas were evenly matched, but it was the Bosnian who advance, scoring an ippon with 50 seconds remaining in regulation time.
Day 4 recap
Avalon Anskey was the lone TeamJudoAus Cadet to compete on the final day of the individual competition.
Her first-round contest in the women's -70 kg division was against CHIEN-MIN CHUANG of Chinese Taipei. After giving up an early Waza-ari, it took Anskey only 26 seconds to respond with a Waza-ari of her own followed by a second Waza-ari 25 seconds later to secure the victory via Waza-Ari-awasete-ippon with 2:37 remaining in the contest.
Anskey's was unfortunate in the draw as her second-round match was against a very tough Barchinoy Kodirova
of Uzbekistan. The young Australian fought hard but was defeated by Kordirova via ippon with 51 seconds remaining in regulation time. The night was over for Anskey, but Kordirova would go on to win the gold medal and be crowned world champion.
Although a disappointing loss in the second round, Anskey finished the event in the Top-16.
What’s next for TeamJudoAus Cadets
The TeamJudoAus Cadets will return home to Australia to compete in several competitions to finish off their calendar year.
First on the schedule will be the Gold Coast International Open in Gold Coast, Queensland, 24 – 25 September.
Next, they will head to Adelaide, South Australia to compete at the SA International Open, 15 - 16 October before heading out west to compete at the Oceania Continental Open in Perth, Western Australia, 29 October – 1 November.
They will finish out the year on the west coast at the Perth International Open Championships, 5 – 6 November.
More updates and news will be announced over the coming weeks.
Media Contact: Charles Hall
chall@ausjudo.com.au