SME-Coverage/Samir Boussoud
Our team achieves strategic goals by qualifying 6 players for the Olympics
200 media professionals attended the event and the competitions were broadcast across 130 countries
The International Federation visits the educational sector to spread the game
The Japanese national team retained the “Mixed Team” title, which was held today, Friday, at the conclusion of the World Judo Championship – Abu Dhabi 2024, after a strong competition that brought together the best stars in the world at “Mubadala Arena” in the 37th edition, which was the largest historically in the United Arab Emirates.
The Japanese national team won the gold medal for the seventh time in a row, and it came after its victory in the final at the expense of the French national team, which won the silver medal, while the bronze medal went to Georgia and Italy after their victory over Germany and Uzbekistan, respectively.
He witnessed the final day of the tournament, and crowned the winners of the “mixed team” competition, Mohammed bin Thaloub Al-Darai, Chairman of the Supreme Organizing Committee of the World Judo Championship – Abu Dhabi 2024, President of the Emirates Judo Federation, who handed over the first place trophy to the Japanese team, and Marius Weiser, President of the International Federation. Judo, which imitated Japanese players with gold medals, and a number of prominent figures in the sport of judo who participated in crowning the French teams with silver medals and Georgia-Italy with the bronze medal.
At the level of the individual competitions, the Japanese male and female players succeeded in finishing the competition last night, Thursday, at the top of the overall standings, with a total of 9 colored medals, with 3 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals, and Georgia came in second place, with four medals, including 2 gold, one silver and one bronze. Then South Korea came in third place with 5 colored medals, including 2 gold and 3 bronze, as the overall ranking depends on the value of the medals and not their number.
Japan secured the top spot in the standings after it continued its superiority in the fifth and final individual round. Japan’s Wakaba Tomita won the gold medal in the over-78 kg weight category, Turkey’s Kayra Ozdemir won the silver medal, and the bronze went to Turkey’s Hilal Ozturk and Korea’s Hyun Kim.
Zhilom Kostosoev won the gold medal in the under 100 kg weight category, the Canadian Shadi El Nahhas, of Egyptian origin, won the silver, and the bronze went to Japanese Duta Arai and Spaniard Nikoloz Sherzadishvili.
Korean Minjong Kim won the gold medal in the weight category over 100 kg, Georgian Guram Toshvili won the silver, and the bronze went to Russian Tamerlan Pashaev and Uzbek Alisher Yusupov.
In this same category, Omar Marouf, a player for our national team, achieved the best results in the Emirates by reaching the round of 16, after winning two victories over the Turkish Munir Ertug and the Austrian Movli Borshvili, then he lost to the Cuban Andy Granda.
Signing an agreement with the French Federation to develop the game
Nasser Al Tamimi: 6 players from the Emirates qualified for the Olympics
Nasser Al Tamimi, Secretary General of the Emirates Judo Federation, announced that the number of Emirati players officially qualified for the next Olympic Games in Paris has risen to 6, with 5 male and female players, namely Narmond Bayan, “under 66 kg,” and Talal Shafeli, “under 66 kg.” 81 kg”, Aram Gregorian “under 90 kg”, Zafer Aram “under 100 kg”, Omar Marouf “over 100 kg”, and player Bashirat Khourudi “under 52 kg”.
Al-Tamimi confirmed that the Judo Federation, headed by Mohammed bin Thaloub Al-Darai, and members of the Board of Directors, were faced with two options during the recent period, either to reduce the burden of external participation and focus on the World Championship, or to increase participation in order to gain points in the classification and raise the number of participants in the next Olympic Games. We chose the second option and gave full confidence to the technical staff, so that the goal was achieved by 90%, with the success of 6 out of 7 players chosen to qualify, with the federation seeking to try to win a medal in the next Olympic Games, which is the reason for not winning medals in this tournament, and perhaps what is most notable is that the best 18 players in the international classification qualify directly in each category for the Olympics, and all of our qualified players are currently in this classification. This was the last tournament and the door was closed after that to qualify for Paris 2024.”
Regarding the team’s program for the coming period, he said, “The players will undergo a week’s rest, after which the fitness program will begin in early June in a “mountainous area” in Georgia for about twenty days. Then they will head to Barcelona to participate in a judo competition camp there, then head to Paris. “.
Al Tamimi announced the opening of the new judo hall in Baniyas, which will also house the judo federation’s headquarters, soon after the end of the current world championship, which will launch its activities by holding a community summer camp during the coming months of July and August.
Al-Tamimi stressed that organizing the current World Championship is not a simple matter, especially since it was approved to host it only five months ago, at a time when this type of tournament requires a period of up to two years at the very least to prepare to host a huge global event that is the most important at the level of the game, and he said. “We know the potential of the work team, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the UAE in general, in terms of infrastructure and the services that we can provide, and I believe that we presented the tournament well, through the praises that the organizing committee received from the International Judo Federation and the local federations of the participating country, and we have experience.” It has been organizing many international tournaments since 2009.
Al-Tamimi stressed that the World Championship is stronger than the Olympic Games at all levels, whether technically or in terms of the names of the players participating in the tournament. For example, the World Championship requires the champion to play 5 matches to be crowned champion, while the Olympics requires the champion to play only 4 matches. In contrast, the current version witnessed Record participation, and this was reflected in the success of only one player retaining his world title, while two Olympic champions left
