Silver for
Conway at Hamburg Otto Super World Cup
(Main article from a British perspective and a more general article below
it)
Sally
Conway achieved valuable Olympic ranking points in the -70kg weight category
when she won silver at the 2008 Hamburg Super World Cup at the weekend – a
personal best in her senior career.
The 21-year-old is now ranked 8th in the European rankings at this weight,
but with a GB place for Beijing requiring a 5th or above in the women’s
categories, she still has to put in strong performances at the Warsaw World Cup
next weekend, and the 2008 European Championships.
In her first fight of the pool Conway beat the very physical Gisele Mendy
of Senegal, and thenErica Barbier of Italy after a flurry of scores, which proved that she
was the strongest of the pair.
Against the experienced Yulia Kuzina of Russia her opponent went a
score up early on with a leg grab. Sally then went in for a throw which the
Russian resisted causing the referee to incorrectly score an ippon against the
Brit. Once this was rectified Conway managed to get a koka score on the board to
bring the scores level. Conway built the pressure up after this and finally
threw the Russian for ippon to win the fight on the right.
In the semi-final Conway threw Shumei Dou of China for a waza-ari
score quite early on in the fight. The left handed Chinese fighter relentlessly
came at the Brit and she succumbed to two penalties. Despite this the Edinburgh
player stayed in the fight and handled Dou well to secure the win and place in
final. Afterwards a delighted Conway said, “Every competition and every contest
I feel like I am getting better and stronger, so I am really looking forward to
the final”.
In
the final Conway faced the formidable Castillo of Cuba, in a fight that
remained close to the end. However the Cuban scored a yuko on the young Brit on
the left, which was the deciding score in the contest.
“I am disappointed that I have lost but this medal
and performance is the next step in my senior career”, Conway said afterwards.
Britain’s other place came from Sarah Clark
who finished 7th in the -63kg despite being unwell in the run up to the
tournament.
In her pool Clark consciously changed her style of fighting by trying to
control the pace to deal with her recovery from illness. This paid off as she
threw the Brazilian Yuri Barbosa for ippon.
She then made easy work of German Champion Stephanie Steinmetz again
beating her opponent by the maximum ippon score but lost to Anicka Van Emden
of the Netherlands, which left Clark in the repechage.
Next it seemed to be a stalemate against the 2003 World Champion Krukower
of Argentina, with both fighters being tall and left handed. Despite this
Sarah proved to be sharp on the ground and finished fight off with a strangle.
She also looked strong against Virginie Henry of France who she threw for
the maximum ippon score.
Clark’s final fight was against World and Olympic medallist Sun Hui Kye
of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Clark was held down for ippon,
which finished the fight as well as Clark’s hopes for a medal.
The last World Cup events take place next weekend when Craig Fallon, James
Millar, Colin Oates, Matt Purssey, Lee Shinkin, Winston Gordon, James Austin and
Andy Burns travel to the 2008 Prague World Cup. Georgina Singleton, Faith
Pitman, Sally Conway, and Gemma Gibbons will travel to the 2008 Warsaw World
Cup.
To qualify the GB spot for Beijing a top 9 placing for men, or a top 5
placing for women, is required at the end of the qualification period (only one
spot per country allowed).
The latest European Olympic Qualification Rankings following the weekend’s
events can be found below.
-60kg
2nd Craig Fallon
4th James Millar
-73kg
18th Matt Purssey
-81kg
GB spot qualified
-90kg
10th Winston Gordon
-100kg
GB spot qualified
-52kg
12th Georgina Singleton
15 th Sophie Johnstone
-57kg
9th Faith Pitman
-63kg
2nd Sarah Clark
-70kg
8th Sally Conway
20th Samantha Lowe
-78kg
1st Michelle Rogers
+78kg
GB spot qualified
Places above have been calculated by discounting those
spots/countries already qualified.
26th
February 2008 - Hamburg Otto Super World Cup - Paischer scores the ippon
of his life. On the first day of the annual Hamburg Tournament
Ludwig Paischer of Austria threw three time Olympic champion and
Japanese hero, Tadahiro Nomura, for ippon with a leg sweep in
the 60kgs final on the left. The leading European 60kgs qualifier for
Beijing, Craig Fallon GBR, was not on form and went out in his
second match to the little known Gkornteev of Greece who then
lost his next match. Ruben Houkes NED, Rio 60kgs world
champion, did not participate having won bronze at the Paris
Tournament two weeks earlier. On the final day (Sunday) Japan suffered
a further devastating upset when
Benjamin Behrla of Germany
threw current heavyweight Olympic champion and 2005 world champion, Keiji Suzuki of
Japan, for ippon in the 100kgs division while his heavyweight team
mate Yasuyuki Muneta was beating the extraordinary 18 year old
world champion, Teddy Riner of France, nicknamed Teddy Bear by
the girls, on the adjoining mat in
the o100kgs category.
Unfortunately the Behrla throw was not caught on camera. In the 100kgs
semi final Behrla threw Elco Van der Geest NED for ippon to reach the
final against Henk Grol, the other Dutchman in the category.
Henk Grol NED defeated Benjamin Behrla by ippon in the final. Full web
pages will follow. On the Saturday, Great Britain saved face when
Sally Conway won silver in the 70kgs division. On the top right
she is seen celebrating her victory after throwing Yulia Kuzina
of Russia for ippon in the quarter final and on the bottom right
throwing Shumei Dou of China for wazari in the semi-final.
David Finch
Hamburg Super World Cup Day 3 Results (USA perspective)
(Colorado Springs, Colo.) –
Three U.S. athletes competed on the final day of the Hamburg Super
World Cup on Sunday in Germany, but none produced a win during the A+
Level competition.
Nina Cutro-Kelly (San Antonio, Texas /
Universal Judo), the 2007 Senior Nationals silver medalist in
the 78kg division, fought two-time World silver medalist Sae
Nakazawa (JPN) in the first round. Nakazawa was beating
Cutro-Kelly by koka (smallest points), yuko (quarter-point) and
waza-ari (half-point) scores when she was thrown for ippon (instant
win) mid-way through the match.
In the repechage, Cutro-Kelly was granted a walkover
against Vera Moskaliouk (RUS), the #4-ranked player
in the world who withdrew due to an injury.
After being down by a penalty, Cutro-Kelly lost her
next by ippon against former World medalist Esther San Miguel
(ESP).
Competing in his first World Cup event,
Landry Ambouroue (Richland, Texas / Ruben Martin Judo Training Center
/ 90kg) was down by several scores against 2007 Pan Am Games
silver medalist Jorge Benavides (CUB) in his first
round match when Ambouroue was thrown for ippon in the last three
seconds.
Christian Aarona (Waimanalo, Hawaii / Makiki
Seidokan Judo Club / 100kg) also was competing in his first
Tour event. Aarona was thrown during the first exchange by
Sami Souissi (TUN) for a waza-ari score and then pinned him
for a koka. In the second minute of the match, Souissi took Aarona to
the ground again, pinning him for a second waza-ari score to end the
match.
Sally
Conway achieved valuable Olympic ranking points in the -70kg weight category
when she won silver at the 2008 Hamburg Super World Cup at the weekend – a
personal best in her senior career. 
Erica Barbier of Italy after a flurry of scores, which proved that she
was the strongest of the pair. 
In
the final Conway faced the formidable Castillo of Cuba, in a fight that
remained close to the end. However the Cuban scored a yuko on the young Brit on
the left, which was the deciding score in the contest. 
26th
February 2008 - Hamburg Otto Super World Cup -
Benjamin Behrla of Germany
threw current heavyweight Olympic champion and 2005 world champion, Keiji Suzuki of
Japan, for ippon in the 100kgs division while his heavyweight team
mate Yasuyuki Muneta was
beating the extraordinary 18 year old
world champion, Teddy Riner of France, nicknamed Teddy Bear by
the girls, on the adjoining mat in
the o100kgs category.
Unfortunately the Behrla throw was not caught on camera. In the 100kgs
semi final Behrla threw Elco Van der Geest NED for ippon to reach the
final against Henk Grol, the other Dutchman in the category.
Henk Grol NED defeated Benjamin Behrla by ippon in the final. Full web
pages will follow. On the Saturday, Great Britain saved face when
Sally Conway won silver in the 70kgs division. On the top right
she is seen celebrating her victory after throwing Yulia Kuzina
of Russia for ippon in the quarter final and on the bottom right
throwing Shumei Dou of China for wazari in the semi-final.
David Finch
