While the junior athletes battle it out for the European Championship titles in Tallinn, Estonia, there were numerous pairs, at cadet, junior and senior level in Europe competing in the Madrid Kata Tournament 2024. It wasn’t only a special opportunity for the judoka however, but the judges were also offered education to better their abilities and in doing so, provide a higher quality event.
On the 7th of September in the Pabellón Polideportivo ‘Francisco Valcárcel’, judoka competed in nine categories; Nage No Kata, Katame No Kata, Ju No Kata, Kime No Kata and Goshin Jitsu.
EJU Head of Kata Education Commission, Ms Monica PIREDDA, was pleased to say that his event had been organised in an amazing way,
The spectacular venue of Padillon de Judo with its unique atmosphere as a Japanese Dojo, hosted the sixth competition of the EJU Kata Tour 2024 and permitted all the participants to live an amazing sports experience, thanks also to the warmth of the Spanish people and their kind and friendly hospitality. The competition had around 80 couples from 13 European countries competing, and 40 EJU Kata Judges.
The day before competition, the EJU Kata Commission planned the Judge Kata Seminar and Examination for Continental Judges. That was very much appreciated by the participants because these meetings contributed to the development of the quality and increased the level of the judges and the competition.
The last competition of the EJU Kata Tour before the World Championship in Las Vegas, will take place in Maintal (Germany) on the 5th of October. Both athletes and judges will have another opportunity to finalise and perfect their preparation before the most important competition of the year. In any case, the balance of this year is to be considered positive in terms of the number of competitions, athletes and judges taking part and the increase in new continental judges thanks to the work for the education carried out by the EJU Kata Commission throughout the year in all tournaments.
In the Cadet final for Nage No Kata, there was a great entry from the Spanish Federation, though despite the odds, it was Germany’s Jette BUCHHOLZ and Laurenz DEGENER who topped the group with a score of 232.5. The victors of the Junior Nage No Kata, were , Javier Rafael DRZYZGA and Oscar Rafael DRZYZGA with 364 points, and in the senior category, it was Italy that stole the show, scoring 395 points were Mauro COLLINI and Tommaso RONDINNI. The remaining results were as follows;
- Katame No Kata / Junior – Nienke ALBERT and Willemijn ALBERT (NED) 359 points
- Ju No Kata / Junior – Rosa TRILLO LILLO and Nora BARRERA PEREZ (ESP) 283.5 points
- Katame No Kata – Miriam SIKORA and Christian STEINERT (GER) 387 points
- Ju No Kata – Giovanni TARABELLI and Angelica TARABELLI (ITA) 402 points
- Kime No Kata – Gregory MARQUEZ and Stephane BEGA (FRA) 522.5 points
- Goshin Jutsu – Juana M PUIGSERVER SANSO and Llorenc GAYA PUIGSERVER (ESP) 531.5 points
Author: Thea Cowen