Italy had never won 5 medals in the same edition and in Guayaquil obtains the record dragged by the 17-year-old Carnà who becomes the youngest Italian world champion
He is the record of medals for Italy at the Junior World Championships in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Giulia Carnà gold in 52 kg, Assunta Scutto silver in 48 kg, bronze Veronica Toniolo in 57, Agnese Zucco in 63, Erica Simonetti in +78: they make a total of five medals, a number never reached in previous editions. “We close this U21 World Cup with the record of medals for our country – has the coach Raffaele Toniolo, who also spoke on behalf of his colleagues Salvatore Ferro and Vito Zocco-. Until 2017 Italy has always closed the Junior World Cup with a maximum of two medals, then in 2018 the fantastic gold trio scored in Nassau by Alice Bellandi, Manuel Lombardo and Christian Parlati, followed by Marrakesh 2019 returning to altitude two, to then rise to four medals with the 2021 edition in Olbia. From Guayaquil we return home with five medals, the best ever. But beyond the 5 medals, what impressed was the competitiveness of our athletes, who are the tip of our youth movement and who have also collected two fifths and four seventh places for a total of 11 athletes out of 17 among the top seven. The Olbia 2021 edition, with seven in the top seven, was the best. Even more impressive, however, is the level of our girls: nine athletes competing and all nine finished in the top seven ”.
MASTERPIECES – A real masterpiece was the victory of Giulia Carnà in the 52 kg, who defeated the French Chloe Devictor, in the exact same final last year in Olbia, but this time the seventeen-year-old Sicilian did not let the outgoing champion escape and she became the youngest Italian judoka to win a World Cup. Assunta Scutto was also amazing, who won gold in Olbia and reached her second consecutive final in the 48 kg with three victories, all obtained before the limit. The Japanese Hikari Yoshioka managed to do better in the final, but only two seconds from the end of the time. Veronica Toniolo from Trieste deserved a third place in the 57 kg, overtaking the Slovenian Ana Skrabi and her teammate Chiara Zuccaro, while fighting hard with the Japanese Akari Omori until the golden score. Another very long golden score, seven minutes over the regular four, awarded the Toniolo final with the Brazilian Bianca Reis. Agnese Zucco’s 63 kg race was also exciting, starting strong by liquidating Kazakh Esmigul Kuyulova and Chilean Constanza Perez. After the defeat at the golden score with the Japanese Kurumi Ishioka, Agnese has not conceded anything to any of her, neither to the Belgian Alessia Corrao, nor to the Croatian Katarina Kristo in the final for third place. The third bronze medal for Italy came from Erica Simonetti in the +78 kg who, in the final for third place, overtook the Friulian Asya Tavano in what was the first all-Italian final at a World Championship. This is also a splendid novelty that highlights the whole team, with the fifth places of Daniele Accoglie and Asya Tavano, the seventh of Asia Advanced, Chiara Zuccaro, Antonietta Palumbo, Bright Maddaloni Nosa, including those who did not finish, but who know the future is on their side.
August 14 – 11:22 pm
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