17th World University Judo Championship
Moscow, Russia - December 16th to 19th, 2004
Surefire Athletic Success
"We saw too that many countries brought in their young champions. They consider meets like the FISU championships to be a good way to prepare their promising young athletes before the next Olympic Games." Bernard Messner, FISU Technical Chairman Judo
Mr. Sinisa Jasnic, FISU Assessor at the Opening Ceremony
The 17th World University Judo Championship was held in Moscow from 16 to 19 December 2004. The Russian winter was not too hard on the delegations of the 43 countries present, although it was quite a surprise for our friends from the Southern Hemisphere to have to bundle up to face the fog and snow of the fickle weather. But inside the gym where the competitions took place there was no thought for the weather. These were the same facilities used for weight lifting at the Moscow Olympic Games that had been completely renovated for the University championships.
The equipment and technical installations gave full satisfaction to both contestants and organisers. Because the housing units were in the same complex, the programme went forward on schedule despite a few difficulties related to transport problems in Moscow, where traffic jams are a constant problem. When it comes to regrets, we did miss the attendance of an audience, despite the timetable of the events that was designed to suit spectators. This shows that we need to get back to more traditional hours so that the competitions can close in the early evening, rather than at 9 p.m. every day. Two other aspects might also be mentioned as a source of problems. The first has to do with the difficulties in obtaining visas. In fact, many delegations said how hard it could be to get visas on time.
The second concerns the registration formalities when the delegations arrive. At the athletes' request, the championships were shortened by one day a few years ago to let everyone attend or send a representative to the General Meeting and the drawing. But we must say that many delegations continue to arrive at the last minute, sometimes even after the meeting. This creates major problems for organising the competitions. While we will continue to fully respect the FISU principles, we may be forced to take stricter measures to prevent this from posing a major problem one day.
From the athletic standpoint, the 17th championship was a great success, corresponding to the importance of Judo as a University sport. 43 countries took part in the competitions (as compared to 37 in Novi Sad in 2002). This number is constantly increasing, as is the number of medal-winning countries (21 as compared to 18), showing that the universal attraction of this sport is still expanding. In the absence of China, which took the largest number of medals at Novi Sad, we saw that the traditionally strong countries have kept up their marks.
Japan confirmed its strength in individual meets, with five titles. The team results were disappointing (a bronze medal for men) because everyone expected to see the Japanese team in the finals. France improved its situation with the ladies' excellent overall performance. Their success in the team finals deserves full recognition, as they managed to overcome a very motivated Russian team, supported by the audience, which came in larger numbers to the finals.
Russia's nine were proof of the team's excellent preparation. It was just one gold medal short of taking the first place from France. The Russian contestants, both men and women, have made remarkable improvement and they are to be reckoned with at the very top in two years' time. The Korean athletes showed that they have recovered since Novi Sad, as the team rose from 12th to 4th place. Their return was expected and in Suwon in 2006, they will be hard to beat.
On the last day, the team event was a real celebration of student Judo, and it held a few surprises. Japan, which was expected in both finals, had to be content with the bronze medal for men (an excellent Hungarian team barred the way to the final). For the ladies, the contestants were bested in the first round by the very hard-working team from the Democratic Republic of Korea, which was down to three members.
Russia succeeded in taking the silver medal for women and a bronze medal for men, with a remarkable overall performance showing consistency and the overall high level of their delegation. Germany is back to top level, particularly for the women. France, although it was not a favourite, took the woman's gold medal in a truly remarkable performance since only four contestants were left in the final. The man's gold medal went to the very strong team from Korea. In group B, it won first place in 4 victories to 1 over a very strong Hungarian team that had managed to eliminate South Africa, a newcomer to the championships, Poland, Italy and then Japan in the semi-finals. In Group A, the challenge was no easier for Korea that had to best Ukraine, Russia and France.
Olympic Champions
A word about the quality of individual participants – it was excellent. Contestants like Mikhaylin (RUS) twice a world medal winner and Tangriev (UZB), gold medal winner at the Olympic Games, were in attendance. Their final for the + 100 kg reached new peaks. We saw also that many countries brought in their young champions. They consider meets like the FISU championships to be a good way to prepare their promising young athletes before the next Olympic Games. We can conclude this quick look at the 17th Judo WUC by acknowledging the remarkable job done by the umpires throughout the four-day games. So the 17th FISU championships are over. Now to the 18th in 2006 in Suwon, Korea.
Complete Results
The complete results can be downloaded by clicking on the hyperlinks below.
Men's 100kg
Organizing Committee
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE OF WUJC2004 contact: Elena Shcherbakova 4, Sirenevy Bulvar Moscow 105122 Russia Tel. : +7(095)1661208 Fax. : +7(095)1661208 E-mail : info_service@wujc2004.ru
Medals
Men's Open 1 - TANGRIEV Abdullo - UZB 2 - CHONG Song Hyun - KOR 3 - RYBAK Yury - BLR 3 - BRYANOV Maxim - RUS Men's +100 kg 1 - MIKHAYLIN Alexandre - RUS 2 - TANGRIEV Abdullo - UZB 3 - BOZOVIC Obren - SCG 3 - KIM Sung-Bum - KOR Men's -100 kg 1 - MIJALKOVIC Rju - SCG 2 - ANAI Takamasa - JPN 3 - KIZILASHVILI Georgi - GEO 3 - FALLAH Abbas - IRI Men's - 90 kg 1 - DEMPF Gerhard - GER 2 - HAIBULAEV Tagir - RUS 3 - PARK Sun Woo - KOR 3 - GONTYUK Roman - UKR
Medallists Men's -81kg
Men's -81kg 1 - KWON Young Woo - KOR 2 - BISCHOF Ole - GER 3 - NABIEV Khurshid - UZB 3 - BARKOUSKI Mikalai - BLR
Medallists Men's -73kg
Men's -73kg 1 - MUMINOV Shokir - UZB 2 - BRUYERE Francesco - ITA 3 - YOON Ji Seob - KOR 3 - BRAUN Akos - HUN
Medallists Men's -66kg
Men's -66kg 1 - UNGVARI Miklos - HUN 2 - BOUHERAOUA Samir - FRA 3 - BRUYERE Alessandro - ITA 3 - KHOMIZURI Mindia - GEO
Men's -60kg 1 - YONETOMI Kazuo - JPN 2. - ZAKARIYA Moshen - IRI 3 - CHO Nam Suk - KOR 3 - NOVIKAU Siarhei - BLR
Women's Open 1 - BARYSIK Yuliya - BLR 2 - GORNICKA Malgorzata - POL 3 - SOKOLOVA Natalia - RUS 3 - MONDIERE Anne Sophie - FRA Women's +78 kg 1 - DONGUZASHVILI Tea - RUS 2 - BEINROTH Katrin - GER 3 - BARYSIK Yuliya - BLR 3 - KAYA Belkis Zehra - TUR Women's -78 kg 1 - HORIE Kumiko - JPN 2 - KARL Jenny - GER 3 - ABLAMSKAYA Aksana - BLR 3 - FEDOROVA Svetlana - RUS
Women's - 70 kg 1 - SHICHIJO Yoshimi - JPN 2 - EMANE Gevrise - FRA 3 - DRAHUN Yana - BLR 3 - POKORNA Andrea - CZE
Medallists Women's -63kg
Women's -63kg 1 - PASQUET Marie -FRA 2 - MALZAHN Claudia - GER 3 - MORAES Erica - BRA 3 - ALEXANDROVA Arina - RUS
Women's -57kg 1 - MIYAMOTO Juri - JPN 2 - ALOISI Valentina - ITA 3 - KORVAL Ilana - FRA 3 - LI San Sim - PRK Women's -52kg 1 - LA RIZZA Audrey - FRA 2 - OSAKI Hiromi - JPN 3 - PAK Yen Mi - PRK 3 - BLANCO Teresa - ESP Women's -48kg 1 - TAKARA Mayumi - JPN 2 - CONGIA Francesca - ITA 3 - LAFFONT Emilie - FRA 3 - RAZUMAVA Katsiaryna - BLR
