The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

The five-day World Junior Judo Championships concluded last night at the Atlantis resort’s Imperial Ballroom with Japan once again emerging as the top team in the standings.

A total of 427 judokas, including 241 men and 186 women from five continents and 67 countries, participated in the event.

Japan defeated Brazil 5-1 in the final to claim the gold medal in the mixed team final block. Matches featured eight individual contests. Brazil won silver while Kazakhstan and Russia won bronze.

The final members of Team Bahamas competed in their individual events on Saturday.

Sasha Ingraham was defeated by Mercedesz Szigetvari of Hungary in Pool C of the +78kg division. Szigetvari eventually won Pool C.

In Pool D of the -90kg, Daleon Sweeting lost to Tim Schmidt in the opening round. Schmidt would go on to lose in the Pool Semi-finals to teammate Falk Petersilka.

Lyle Sherman lost in the first round in Pool A of the -81kg to Muhammet Koc of Turkey. Also in the division, Desmondo Bootle was defeated by Victor Gonzalez of Argentina.

IJF Sport Director Daniel Florin Lascau shared his technical views on the five-day Junior World Championships moments after the tournament concluded with victory for Japan in the mixed team event.

“The technical level of the young judoka has been very different to what we’re accustomed to. On one side we have athletes with skills and it’s the first time they have faced this level of competition, while on the other hand we have names who are already competing on IJF World Judo Tour.

“What makes the difference between here and seniors is the direct taking of kumi-kata grips at the junior level. Juniors are more dedicated, they go and take the grips,” he said, “In terms of the accuracy of the techniques, some of these athletes are still in the learning process and therefore immediately when they’re tired, some are unable to perform the techniques and elements of the throw are missing such as kuzushi.

“A few of the athletes here will be involved in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics but for most the goal will be the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”

The World Junior Judo Championships was the largest sport tournament ever held in the Bahamas in terms of numbers and diversity of countries.

“It’s fantastic. It’s everything that we have imagined, the people have been wonderful, the visitors as well as us, who are hosting this event,” he said. “A lot of people have put in some long hours and it’s like a dream come true, said BGF President D’Arcy Rahming Sr.

“We were so blessed to host the IAAF World Relays. This is on the magnitude of that, so I feel pretty good about that. I hope to do a yearly event like this because this sport model is something that we can continue to develop.”