only gold is missing from Italian judo at the Mediterranean Games

On Wednesday 29th, Thursday 30th June and Friday 1st July there were the Mediterranean Judo Games in Oran, Algeria.

Italia

13 Italians, 6 women and 7 men competed: Sofia Petitto (-48 kg), Francesca Giorda (-52 kg), Giulia Caggiano (-57 kg), Nicolle D’Isanto (-63 kg), Martina Esposito (-70 kg), Asya Tavano (+78 kg), Diego Rea (-60 kg), Matteo Piras (-66 kg), Manuel Lombardo (-73 kg), Kenny Komi Bedel (-81 kg), Gennaro Pirelli (-90 kg ), Enrico Bergamelli (-100 kg), Lorenzo Agro Sylvain (+100 kg). Linda Politi (-78 kg) was also on the list, but for health reasons she had to give up.

Results

Italy has conquered three silver medals con Giulia Caggiano (-57 kg), Matteo Piras (-66 kg) and Kenny Komi Bedel (-81 kg), due bronze medals con Martina Esposito (-70 kg) and Lorenzo Agro Sylvain (+100 kg), four fifth places from Sofia Petitto (-48 kg), Nicolle D’Isanto (-63 kg), Manuel Lombardo (-73 kg) and Gennaro Pirelli (-90 kg) e and seventh place from Asya Tavano (+78 kg).

Giulia Caggiano (-57 kg) she passed the first round and in the next, in the quarter-finals, she won with Flaka Loxha (Kos) and in the semifinals with HALATA Yamina Halata (Alg), while in the final against Marica Perisic (Srb) she had to settle for second place, while deserving the first, due to a hansoku-makè, or disqualification, for dangerous action, despite the fact that the opponent had made several without ever being sanctioned.

Matteo Piras (-66 kg) won three matches respectively with Rachid Cherrad (Alg), Alberto Gaitero Martin (Esp), 11th in the world ranking and 1st in this competition, and Strahinja Buncic (Srb), while in the final he lost to Mohamed Abdelmawgoud (Egy), winning a prestigious silver medal.

Kenny Komi Cost (-81 kg) won the first match with Manue Rodrigues (Por), the quarter-finals with Achraf Moutii (Mar) and in the semifinals against Alfonso Urquiza Solana (Esp) but in the final he had to yield to Vedat Albayrak (Tur), third in the world ranking, however, obtaining an excellent silver medal.

Martina Esposito (-70 kg) won the first match with Kaila Issoufi (Fra) but in the quarter-finals she lost against expert Anka Pogacnik (Slo), bronze at this year’s European Championships, and in the repechage she won against Aleksandra Samardzic (Bih) and on paper against Lara Cvjetko (Cro), disqualified and removed from the scoreboards, thus earning a place on the podium with the bronze medal around her neck.

Lawrence Agro Sylvain (+100 kg) he won the first round against Panagiotis Papanikolaou (Gre) and in the quarter-finals against Wahib Hdiouech (Tun), while in the semifinals he lost against Vito Dragic (Slo), winner of the category, and in the final for the bronze he won against Zouhair Esseryry (Mar) thus winning a very important bronze medal.

Sofia Petitto (-48 kg) won the first match with Imene Rezzoug (Alg) and in the quarter-finals with Oumaima Bedioui (Tun), but lost in the semifinal against Melanie Vieu (Fra) and in the final for the bronze against Marusa Stangar (Slo), thus reaching the foot of the podium.

Nicolle D’Isanto (-63 kg) won the first round with Ayten Yeksan (Tur) while she lost the quarter-finals to Cristina Cabana Perez (Esp), and then recovered in the first repechage match with Meriem Bjaoui (Tun), before losing in the final for the bronze against Amina Belkadi (Alg), coming close to the podium, in fifth place.

Manuel Lombardo (-73 kg) passed the first round but lost in the quarter-finals against Aleddine Ben Chalbi (Tun), bronze medal at the end of the day, and in the repechage he won against Abdulati Abushagur (Lba) and Martin Hojak (Slo) but in the final for the bronze lost to Akil Gjakova (Kos), thus finishing fifth.

Gennaro Pirelli (-90 kg) he won the first round against Erson Ramaj (Alb) while he then lost in the quarter-finals against Theodoros Tselidis (Gre), silver medal at the end of the day, but referring to the repechage against Narsej Lackovic (Slo) and Abderrahmane Benamadi (Alg), before yielding in the final for the bronze to Tristani Mosakhlishvili (Esp), thus finishing in fifth place.

Asya Tavano (+78 kg) he won the first round against Nisrin Bousbaa Dab (Esp) but in the quarter-finals he lost against Nihel Cheikh Rouhou (Tun), then silver medal, and in the repechage against expert Larisa Ceric (Bih), then bronze medal . The Italian athlete ranked seventh.

They lost in the first round: Francesca Giorda (-52 kg) against Nadezda Petrovic (Srb) e Diego Rea (-60 kg) Contro Mihrac Akkus (Tur), Enrico Bergamelli (-100 kg) contro Shpati Zekaj (Kos).

Classification

Female ranking

-48 kg

1. Melanie Vieu (Fra),
2. Milica Nikolic (Serb),
3. Marusa Stangar (Slo) and Oumaima Bedioui (Tun)

-52 kg

1. Krasniqi District (Kos),
2. Ana Viktorija Puljiz (Cro),
3. Chloe Devictor (Fra) and Ana Isabel Perez Box (Esp)

-57 kg

1. Marica Perisic (Srb),
2. Giulia Caggiano (Ita),
3. Andjela Samardzic (Bih) and Flaka Loxha (Kos)

-63 kg

1. Laura Fazliu (Kos),
2. Cristina Cabana Perez (Spa),
3. Amina Belkadi (Alg) and Iva Oberan (Cro)

-70 kg

1. Ai Tsunoda Roustant (Spain),
2. Nihel Landolsi (Tun),
3. Martina Esposito (Ita) e Elisavet Teltsidou (Gre)

-78 kg

1. Loriana Kuka (Kos),
2. Chloe Buttigieg (Fra),
3. Nurcan Yilmaz (Tur) and Petrunjela Pavic (Cro)

+78 kg

1. Kayra Sayit (Tour),
2. Nihel Cheikh Rouhou (Tun),
3. Larisa Ceric (Bih) and Coralie Hayme (Fr.)

Male ranking

-60 kg

1. Francisco Garrigos Rosa (Esp),
2. Fraj Dhouibi (Tun),
3. Youssry Samy (Egy) e Issam Bassou (Mar)

-66 kg

1. Mohamed Abdelmawgoud (One),
2. Matteo Piras (Ita),
3. Maxime Gobert (France) and Strahinja Buncic (Serb)

-73 kg

1. Messaoud Redouane Dris (Alg),
2. Hassan Doukkali (Mar),
3. Akil Gjakova (Kos) and Aleddine Ben Chalbi (Tun)

-81 kg

1. Vedat Albayrak (Tour),
2. Kenny Komi Bedel (Now),
3. Alfonso Urquiza Solana (Esp) and Tizie Gnamien (Fra)

-90 kg

1. Mihael Zgank (Turkey),
2. Theodoros Tselidis (Gree),
3. Toni Miletic (Bih) e Stsitani Mosakhlishvili (Esp)

-100 kg

1. Nikoloz Sherazadishvili (Esp),
2. Mustapha Yasser Bouamar (Alg),
3. Aleksandar Kukolj (Srb) and Joris Agbegnenou (Fra)

+100 kg

1. Vito Dragic (Slo),
2. Mohamed Sofiane Belrekaa (Alg),
3. Wahib Hdiouech (Tun) e Lorenzo Agro Sylvain (Ita)

Ranking of nations

1. Spain (3-1-3-1-3),
2. Kosovo (3-0-2-0-2),
3. Turkey (3-0-1-2-2)

L’Italia it is classified 10^ (0-3-2-4-1) out of 23 nations.

Information

For more information on the results you can look at the website of the European Judo Union, EJU, in the dedicated page: https://www.eju.net/event/xix-mediterranean-games-2022/234998/

I thank the Italian Federation of Judo Fight Karate Martial Arts (FIJLKAM) for the photo of the two medalists after the first day, Giulia Caggiano and Matteo Piras, both silver medalists, in the -57 kg and in the -66 kg.