Junior World Championships, Fort Lauderdale 2014, concluded

Fort Lauderdale, Oct 26, 2014: The Junior World Championships, Fort Lauderdale 2014, were concluded with an exhilarating team competition in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday.

The men’s team competition featured 18 teams of five judoka while the women’s team competition featured 16 teams of five judoka which is a record for this event.

Japan emulated their individual success in the team format as the swept the board by winning gold in the men’s event and women’s event.
Marius VIZER, IJF President, used the occasion of the last day of the competition in Florida to look ahead to World Judo Day on Tuesday 28 October. The theme this year is honour and all week long famed judoka have been supporting the initiative which was introduced in 2011.

“Dear Judo Community Members, Partners and Friends, on the occasion of the World Judo Day, I would like to congratulate the entire world Judo community and I would like to thank you, in the name of the International Judo Federation, for your entire activities during this year,” said VIZER.

“I thank you for the results achieved at sports level and not only, wishing you at the same time a lot of success and the same level of application in the project of continuous development of international Judo.

“Being convinced that the judo principles – courtesy, courage, sincerity, honour, modesty, respect, self-control, friendship – are incontestable values not only in our sport, but for the entire society, I consider that these values must be spread within our community as well as a message to society, because this is the way to transfer the values of our sport in order to continuously educate the new generations and to have a real impact on all sectors of civil society. I congratulate you and I wish you all the best.”

Judoka from around the world have also raised awareness for the annual judo festival and encouraged the international judo community to hold activities. Olympic and world medallists along with Junior World Championships medallists used the occassion of the five-day competition in

Fort Lauderdale to give thei full support to World Judo Day.

The Best Male Judoka Award went to -66kg Junior World champion Egor MGDSYAN (RUS) while the Best Female Judoka Award was presented to KONDO Ami (JPN). MGDSYAN won four of his five fights by ippon and won team gold today while senior world champion KONDO won all five fights by ippon and claimed team gold.

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MEN’S TEAMS
Japan edge out Georgia in thriller
Japan’s men’s team were able to outlast the reigning champions Georgia as their titanic duel went down to the very last contest. High school student and Youuth Olympic Games winner ABE Hifumi, who tool silver on day two, made a winning start for Japan as he beat KELIKHASHVILI (GEO) by a waza-ari.

Junior World silver medallist YAMAMOTO Yuji (JPN) extended his country’s advantage by subduing MCHEDLISHVILI with an armlock before MARGIANI (GEO) keep his team alive by defeating OGATA (JPN) on shido penalties.

Junior World bronze medallist GVINIASHVILI (GEO) was awarded victory in the next contest to make it all square at 2-2. In the winner-take-all contest, TUSHISHVILI (GEO) met OGAWA, Yusei (JPN). The rivals went toe-to-toe for four minutes and could not be separated as they both received three shido penalties for passivity and gripping infringements.

A further two and a half minutes were required to separate them as the Japanese women’s team and officials were highly animated on the arena floor. OGAWA, 18, the son of 1992 Olympic silver medallist and four-time world champion OGAWA Naoya (JPN) produced the finest moment of his burgeoning career as he caught his Georgian opponent for a yuko score.

After stepping off the medal podium OGAWA said: “Before coming out to the competition my dad’s advice was to go forward and be positive, to attack. I felt so much pressure in the final contest and I was still unhappy with my individual performance so this was more motivation for me. I really enjoyed my experience of the team competition and now I will prepare to compete at the Kodokan Cup in November.”

Teammate ABE said: “I am still disappointed with my result in the individual competition (silver) but this was my first Junior World Championships. I am very proud to win team gold today, I had a strong motivation to be on top of the podium with my teammates. I felt pressure because I was the first to fight and I needed to make a positive result for the team.”

In the first semi-final Georgia defeated Russia with a battling display which took a lot out of them ahead of the final. The match went to the fifth and final contest as TUSHISHVILI (GEO) defeated Junior World bronze medallist SHAKHBAZOV (RUS) by ippon after countering a desperate pick up attempt with five seconds left as the Georgian had already scored a waza-ari from a drop seoi-nage. In the second semi-final Japan whitewashed Ukraine 5-0 with OGATA beating MAKUKHA (UKR) to win their third fight and secure their place in the final.

The first set of bronze medals were captured by South Korea who defeated Ukraine 4-1 while the second set of bronze medals were awarded to Russia who defeated Brazil 3-2.

Former Junior world champion AN Baul (KOR) said: “Now that I’ve had more time to adjust to the time difference I feel better and had more energy today. I was in good condition and fought better than I did in the individual event. We are really happy four our bronze medals and personally now I am excited and nervous about moving up to fight in the senior circuit.”

unnamed (5)Final Results
1. Japan. 2. Georgia. 3. South Korea. 3. Russia. 5. Ukraine. 5. Brazil. 7. Austria. 7. Egypt

WOMEN’S TEAMS
Masterful Japan close out the Junior World Championships with women’s gold
Japan’s women put on a masterclass against France as they won the final 4-1 to clinch gold. Junior and senior world champion KONDO Ami (JPN) set her team on their way to victory by defeating Junior World champion Amandine BUCHARD (FRA). KONDO caught the senior world bronze medallist with an armbar with 86 seconds left to force the Frenchwoman to tap out.

This was the second meeting between the precocious judoka after the Japanese fighter won their first meeting at the 2011 Cadet World Championships. Junior World silver medallist DEGUCHI Christa (JPN) added a second win by osaekomi before fellow runner-up NABEKURA (JPN) guaranteed the gold medal by ippon.

Junior World bronze medallist Marie Eve GAHIE (FRA) pulled one back for her country by ippon after just 52 seconds before Junior World champion ASAHINA Sarah (JPN) won the heavyweight contest to seal a 4-1 rout.

Junior world champion and Junior World Team champion ASAHINA said: “This was my first time competing at the Junior World Championships and I loved it. I am so happy to win gold for Japan. I wasn’t very pleased with my performance today but the team came together was a unit and were strong. It was also special for us to watch our men’s team win gold.”

In the first semi-final Japan beat Russia 4-1 as DEGUCHI Christa (JPN) was the only member of her team to lose out. In the second semi-final France demolished South Korea by the same score with wins for BUCHARD, GUIHUR, GAHIE and CAMARA as the latter scored a consolation by AHN Saho who threw MARY for ippon with an ouchi-gari.

The first bronze medallists were South Korea who defeated Brazil 3-2 as HAN Mi Jin (KOR) bested Camila NOGUEIRA (BRA) in the deciding contest. HAN Mi Jin scored a yuko from a ko-uchi-gari to steer her team onto the podium. The second set of bronze medals were won by Russia who inflicted a heavy defeat on Mongolia. Russia cruised through the match as they were undefeated until the last contest when INOZEMTSEVA (RUS) lost out to BATBAATAR (MGL).

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Final Results

1. Japan. 2. France. 3. South Korea. 3. Russia. 5. Brazil. 5. Mongolia. 7. Italy. 7. Kazakhstan. —- Photos: © IJF Media Team by T. Zahonyi

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