The semi final contests in the European Club Championships – Champions League 2024 could not have been more opposite.
Paris Saint-German (PSG) were the first to secure their place in the Champions League final, completing their devastating straight set against Ukraine Judo before the first contest on the adjoining mat had reached the four minute mark. The -90kg Olympic silver medallist, MURAO Sanshiro (JPN) was the first representative of PSG, sporting the internationally recognised emblem, defeating Stansilav GUNCHENKO. Coralie HAYME and Uzbekistan’s Olympic bronze medallist of the +100kg category, Alisher YUSUPOV, continued the demise of the Ukrainian entry, putting them in a 3-0 lead, requiring only one more win. Last up was 2012 Olympic bronze medallist, Priscilla GNETO, an athlete with decades worth of experience, taking on junior judoka, Inna SHYNKARENKO. It is safe to say that experience won out on this occasion, as Gneto found the juji gatame in less than a minute. A huge celebration erupted in the FDI Stadium, a great section of devout PSG fans chanted and waved their club flags.
There was potential for an all-French final today, however Red Star Belgrade did not come for a bronze medal. They were not as fortunate as PSG to have a clean sweep, instead managing a 3:3 draw against Judo Nice Metropole, before going in to the random draw.
Opening the wins for Red Star was Islam SOGENOV, who after tearing his judogi, composed himself again to defeat Tizie GNAMIEN in the -90kg category a minute in to golden score with drop seoi nage. The heavyweight women were up next, and although Milica ZABIC of Red Star scored waza ari, initial errors forced her to pick up two shidos and in turn added the pressure. Eventually, a third shido was issued and Grace-Esther MIENANDI LAHOU brought the first win for Nice. In the +90kg category, former World Champion, Andy GRANDA (CUB) faced Khamzat SAPARBAEV, and it was the latter who added another win for Judo Nice Metropole, anticipating an attack in golden score from Granda and using te waza to make it 2:1.
Marica PERSIC (Red Star), medallist in the Montpellier European Championships 2023, won the -57kg semi final contest against Alya DE CARVALHO today, but not until the final seconds when she found her opening in ne waza. This evened the score, but it was to be a random draw fate as Bajsangur BAGAJEV (Red Star) and Melkia AUCHECORNE (Judo Nice Metropole) both won their respective contests to give the 3:3 result. As the roulette wheel spun, the athletes stood tentatively, anticipating who would be responsible for the winning point… -57kg.
Again Perisic and De Carvalho took to the tatami. It was an incredibly gruelling affair, with the pair watching the minutes pass by. Though physically they became tired, the will to win was stronger. De Carvalho was the winning draw point in their quarter final against Golden Gori earlier in the day, however she was unable to repeat her success, and once again, Perisic used her ne waza skills to win the contest after 7 minutes and 30 seconds of golden score.
The final block will see teams from four different nations compete for medals; France, Serbia, Georgia, and Ukraine. Battling it out for the first of the bronze medals are Judo Nice Metropole (FRA) and SGS Judo (FRA), in the second bronze medal contest, Golden Gori (Georgia) and Judo Ukraine (UKR) will go he’d to head, then of course it will be a final showdown between Red Star Belgrade (SRB) and Paris Saint-Germain (FRA).
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen