The vice champion of Europe Catarina Costa and the judoka Rodrigo Lopes are this Thursday the first Portuguese to enter the ‘stage’ in the World Cup, which will be held until October 13 at the Humo Arena, in Tashkent.
Asia, with the tendency of favoritism that it can give to the judokas of that continent, is once again the scene of some Judo World Championships, after a ‘pause’ in Budapest, in 2021, where the Portuguese Jorge Fonseca was proclaimed world champion. .
Rodrigo Lopes (-60 kg) and Catarina Costa (-48 kg) will enter the competition this Thursday only from the second round, with the judokas competing immediately one after another, in fights 16 and 17, respectively, scheduled for ‘ tatami’. ‘ two.
The Benfica judoka, 28th in the ‘ranking’, did not have an easy draw, since, still exempt from the first round, he will face South Korean Harim Lee (18th), winner of this year’s Grand Prix, in the second round. Portugal, fifth in the Paris Grand Slam and third in Ulan Bator.
It will be the second time that the two judokas face each other, after having faced each other in June this year at the Ulan Bator Grand Slam, a test that counts for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, with Rodrigo Lopes eliminated in the repechage phase.
In the Humo Arena, the European runner-up Catarina Costa, is exempt in the first round of -48 kg, with the judoka from Coimbra, second seeded, fighting in the second round with the winner of the fight between the Mozambican Jennie Muneme ( 106th) and the German Katharina Menz (24th).
If they face Menz, Catarina Costa, who is fourth in the world ranking, will need her best judo to distance a rival with whom she has a tie: two wins for the German and two for the Portuguese, in the four times that they faced. Each other.
In the Judo World Championships, in which Telma Monteiro, four times runner-up in the world, is weightless due to injury, Portugal will also have Joana Diogo (-52 kg), Bárbara Timo (-63 kg), Rochele Nunes (+78k ), João Fernando (-81kg), Anri Egutidze (-90kg) and Jorge Fonseca (-100kg).
First opponents of the Portuguese judokas in the World Cup:
– Today, October 6:
-48 kg: Catarina Costa (4th in the world ranking, second seeded), exempt in the first round, in the next with the winner of the fight between the Mozambican Jennie Muneme (106th) and the German Katharina Menz (24th).
-60 kg: Rodrigo Lopes (28th) exempt in the first round, in the next with the South Korean Harim Lee (18th).
– Friday, October 7:
-52 kg: Joana Diogo (27th) exempt in the first round, in the next with the Uzbek Sita Kadamboeva (57th).
– Sunday October 8:
-63 kg: Bárbara Timo (26th) with Serbian Anja Obradovic (43rd).
-81 kg: João Fernando (61st) exempt in the first round, in the next with the winner of the fight between the Japanese Sotaro Fujiwara (12th) and the South Korean Jonhoon Kim (74th).
– Monday, October 9:
-90 kg: Anri Egutidze (47th) with the American John Jayne (27th).
– Tuesday, October 11:
-100 kg: Jorge Fonseca (1st, top seed), exempt in the first round, in the next with the Romanian Asley González (25th).
– Wednesday, October 12:
+78 kg: Rochele Nunes (16th) with the Czech Marketa Paulusova (78th).
Source: TSF
