Within four weeks, the third event is coming up for the juniors as they are heading to Portugal this weekend. Now, the first destination comes to mind at the far Mediterranean is Odivelas, however, this weekend, the city of Anadia will serve as the host, for the first ever time. Anadia is part of Arcos e Mogofores parish and is located a little over two hours from the capital, Lisbon. It is, however, only an hour away from the beautiful city of Porto. Anadia might be small in size but definitely hugely invested in sports, having several training centres located here whilst the country’s only velodrome is also set at this location.
Regarding the weekend, over 350 judoka across 18 countries from four continents are landing at the new location. The Anadia Sports Complex will offer a competitive field with over a handful of top ten of the junior world ranking. The list kickstarts with two #2s, Talgat ORYNBASSAR (KAZ/-60kg) and Adilet ALMAT (KAZ/-73kg). Maxence BORDIN (FRA/-100kg) is settled in #4 whilst Valerio ACCOGLI (ITA/-66kg) is a position below. Italy adds on two more top ten with Sofia MAZZOLA (-48kg/#6) and Sara CORBO (-63kg/#8). Both Accogli and Corbo won silver at the Podgorica Junior European Cup a little over a week ago. Portugal’s Tais PINA (-70kg/#9) is the highest ranked local athlete. Tagging along in the same position is Kylian NOEL (FRA/-66kg).
The host nation has a large team entered, giving an extensive platform to the youth to grow their experience. Besides U23 European bronze ‘23 medallists, Pina, who also claimed 5th place at the Paris Grand Slam 2024 (at the age of 19!), a few cadets will be under the spotlight too. Namely, cadet European champion ‘23 and cadet world bronze medallist ‘23, Maria SILVEIRA (-57kg). The latter won her cadet European title in Odivelas indicating she is suitable to handle any potential pressure comes when competing on home soil. Surely, there will be many more to verify that too. A three-day training camp will follow the event.
Best of luck to all participants!
Program
Attention: The schedule may be modified according to total number of entries and circumstances of competition. *The start time will be confirmed once the final number of athletes is known.
Author: Szandra Szogedi