“Finally it worked,” was the comment of the 23-year-old, who wore the national team jersey for the first time.
The decisive factor for his sovereign victories was that Kappelmeier had extremely improved his grip fight. In judo, the grip with the hands must fit exactly so that the early victory (ippon) is achieved. It was Kappelmeier’s first men’s win at European level.
In the first fight, the Dutchman Bulthuis faced Schweiterkirchner. The athlete, who is training at the Munich federal base, swept his opponent onto his back prematurely with a large inner sickle. In the pool final, Kappelmeier won with two throws: After 15 seconds, the Croatian Vukecevic was down for the first time with a thigh throw. The Schweidenkirchner dominated the fight with his grip and finally secured victory with a deep shoulder throw. In the semifinals, Kappelmeier fought very well tactically for two minutes against the Briton Barrett. As if out of nowhere, the man from Schwydenkirchen threw the Briton on his back with an explosive inside thigh throw and was thus in the final.
Here he met the Czech Silvestr. Kappelmeier dominated from the start. After just eight seconds, he threw his opponent onto the mat with a thigh throw. Due to his improved grip position, the German managed to win the next attack early with his favorite technique, the large inside sickle. PK
