5 June 2016

ANOTHER DAY OF REASSURANCE

European Judo Open Madrid 2016

ANOTHER DAY OF REASSURANCE

-81kg Anri EGUTIDZE (POR)

“When I woke up this morning I just felt that I want to win today. The fight against Ivan Nifontov was strong from the start however as the contest went on I started to better and better and I managed to put my work in there. I am still last year junior but I hope if I continue to work like today, I can win more and more. I want more medals and more wins and to go to the Olympic Games.”

-70kg Sanne VAN DIJKE (NED)

“I felt pretty good throughout the day. Normally I want to win with bigger throws, today I couldn’t do that in all of my fights but overall I am happy with the medal, its been a while. I came back from an injury as well, I broke my elbow.”

-90kg David TEKIC (GER)

“I came here to win today. I had several injuries in the past but the doctor kept on reassuring me that I will be back soon. It is extremely special to fight here in Spain because I am also part the Spanish first league with Team Valencia and having some of those team mates as well as friends here cheering for me was incredible.”

-78kg Karen STEVENSON (NED)

“I was top seeded so I wanted to win it. I felt good today, even thought at the beginning of the day started a bit rough but by the final I felt good and the final went easier than I expected. My hardest fight was against my German opponent [Anne Marie WAGNER].”

-100kg Tagir KHAIBULAEV (RUS)

“Today was like a practice day for me before heading to Rio. My last bigger tournament was the Masters where I lost first round but besides that my last one was the Abu-Dhabi Grand Slam and since I didn’t compete due to an injury. My best moment today perhaps the fact that I didn’t lose but in terms of techniques for example I still have to work on quiet a few things.”

+78kg Ksenia CHIBISOVA (RUS)

“After the Masters I was very tired and there I lost my first fight so I very much wanted to win a medal and to start winning tournaments again. Today I felt good, my judo was good and I was on a good form.”

+100kg Renat SAIDOV (RUS)

“I had a difficult day today because I didn’t compete for a long time due to different small injuries. This was my first competition back and I would say my performance was about at a medium level. Today was definitely a good practice ahead of the Olympic Games and maybe I will do one more competition before Rio.”

Judoka