Jorre let himself be surprised at the start of the fight and showed his disappointment at the end by banging his fist on the tatami. It is true that he hoped for much better from this European meeting, which he had prepared with the care he is known for.
Previously, our compatriot had, it is true, dismissed the Greek Pintsis (26 years old/nc) and the Israeli Shulman (22 years old/n°51) before falling, in the quarter-final, to the Spaniard Garrigos (29 years old /n°1), reigning world champion and double European champion (2021, 2022). A ground specialist, he immobilized Jorre Verstraeten by lying on him.
The happy surprise of this first morning came from Ellen Salens. Entered in -48 kg, she eliminated the Austrian Tanzer (28 years old/n°35) and the Slovenian Stangar (26 years old/n°16), two judokas better ranked than her in the world and… Olympic rankings.
Arriving in the quarter-finals, the 27-year-old Flandrienne lost to the young Russian Dudina (19 years old/n°37), recent bronze medalist at the World Juniors. But drafted, she then found the Portuguese Costa (27 years old/n°8), vice-European champion.
And it was an indecisive and fierce face-to-face, punctuated in overtime when, after more than three minutes, the referee returned to a previous phase to award a waza-ari to the Portuguese! Ellen did not deserve such a scenario, she who no longer benefits from the support of Sport Vlaanderen, but continues to believe in her chances.
In -52 kg, nothing is definitely going well for Amber Ryheul! Opposed to the Dutchwoman Van Krevel (23 years old/n°30), the 25-year-old Flandrienne lost from the start, destabilized by her opponent shortly after mid-fight and unable to come back to the score.
Enough to ask questions about Amber who has, of course, been upset by injuries, but who is putting up poor performances in this Olympic year, which is nevertheless so important.
Already beaten in the first round of the Euro last year, in Montpellier, Amber was eliminated early in all the competitions in which she participated: Odivelas, Paris, Baku, Linz, Tbilisi, Antalya and, now, Zagreb.
Same observation for Mina Libeer, in -57kg. La Gantoise found the Frenchwoman Gneto (32 years old/n°15), the eldest of Astride (28 years old) who plays in the lower category. Victorious two years ago, in Sofia, Mina was, unfortunately, unable to repeat this performance.
The 26-year-old from Ghent was surprised by the first movement of her opponent who took her to the ground to strangle her after only forty seconds.
Mina's journey this year is barely better than Amber's, except that she still won a bronze medal at the beginning of March, in Linz (Grand Prix), which currently earns her 22nd place (the last qualifier) in the Olympic ranking.
In -48kg again, if she has not passed the threshold of… the second round, even though she was exempt from the first, Lois Petit did not do poorly against another Frenchwoman, Blandine Pont (25 years old/n°13), whom she met in 2018!
Since then, it has evolved well, winning Paris, Tel Aviv and Antalya last year before winning bronze in Abu Dhabi. Suffice it to say that the task was particularly difficult for Lois, who nevertheless did not allow herself to be impressed.
As since the start of the season, the 24-year-old Tournaisienne attacked with the risk of counterattack, particularly on the ground. Finally, the decision fell into overtime with a third penalty, for “false attack”, inflicted on the Belgian. Damage…
The rest of the Belgian program
Friday 26
- -81 kg > Jarne Duyck/-90 kg > Sami Chouchi
- -63 kg > Alessia Corrao/-70 kg > Gabriella Willems
Saturday 27
- -100 kg > Toma Nikiforov/-78 kg > Vicky Verschaere
Start of the fights at 10:30 a.m.… To be continued on https://judotv.com/
