“Coyotes” in luck: The judoka of ESV Ingolstadt cheer in the fight against the Isarfighter with the victorious Benedikt Morkus (front right). Photo: Roth
By Norbert Roth
Ingolstadt – For the greatest success in the history of the department, a trainer can sometimes reach into his bag of tricks. That’s exactly what happened to the judoka from ESV Ingolstadt and their coach Sebastian Zimmermann in the last fight of the season against the Isarfighters. With success, because the railway workers secured second place in the 2nd Bundesliga South for the first time in front of around 200 enthusiastic spectators with an 8:6 victory.
“The boys always say: Sebi, you’re like a chess player,” says the relaxed 52-year-old head coach after the success, grins briefly, but then frowns. You should know that he didn’t take his decisions lightly during the competition. “I always have to see how fit the fighters are, how strong they feel. I had to make very difficult decisions today and I’m glad that the guys – even those who were only there on the edge of the mat – supported it. I’m incredibly proud of this team, of this team spirit. That was maybe the best fight since I’ve been a trainer with the ‘Coyotes’, Zimmermann gushed. You have to know: The native Romanian has been with ESV for over 20 years with his brother Catalin.
Even before this duel against the fighting community from the south of Munich (with athletes from Lenggries, Holzkirchen, Großhadern) it was clear that only the winner would be able to come in second. And then – at least from the ESV point of view – the start went wrong. Christopher Vance (+100kg) had to give up the first fight after a knee injury, immediately afterwards Valentin Larasser surprisingly lost in the category up to 81kg. “Valentin is actually a point guarantee for us, so I got a bit worried,” says Zimmermann. Lucas Kuttalek (-73kg) and Georgios Aslanidis (-100kg) equalized with their victories to 2:2, but Lucas Bornschein (-66kg) and Mike Schmal (-90kg) then lost. Benedikt Morkus landed another victory in the -60kg class, but ESV went into the break after the first individual round with a 3:4 deficit. Now it was Zimmermann’s turn.
“I knew that Matthias Werner is an experienced fighter, that’s why I brought him for Vance,” explained the coach. In addition, “chess player” Zimmermann called Dimitrios Tsanidis (-66kg) and Nikos Moulatze (-90kg) into the line-up – and should therefore exchange points in two of the three cases. That was enough in the end. Because Kuttalek, Aslanidis and Morkus also won their fights alongside Werner and Tsanidis. The bottom line was that the ESV won the second round 5:2, which resulted in the celebrated 8:6 overall victory.
Werner played perhaps the most important role right after the break. “He had a very strong opponent in plus and did really well. When he won – although the score was only 4:4 – I knew that this would send a signal to the entire team and that we could still win,” said a delighted Zimmermann, who in round two had five clear Ipon victories for his highly motivated judoka could cheer. The performance of Aslanidis, who twice needed less than a minute for his victories and remained unbeaten in the entire second division season, was outstanding in a fighting strong team.
“This second place means a lot to us because it is a confirmation of our many years of work. Unlike MTV many years ago, which only fought with foreigners in the Bundesliga and had a major main sponsor in Audi, we did it on our own. That makes me very proud,” explained Zimmermann.
And as if his “Coyotes” still wanted to provide proof of the intact team spirit at ESV, they first grabbed assistant coach Catalin Zimmermann, then the head coach – and threw both of them up several times in the team circle to loud cheers.
DK
10,000 euros are missing for the Bundesliga
Ingolstadt – Despite all the joy about the spectacular victory in the last battle of the season against the Isarfighters, ESV trainer Sebastian Zimmermann got pensive again during the conversation at the edge of the mat. The background is a possible promotion of his judoka to the 1st Bundesliga. From a sporting point of view, he would like to take part, but from a financial point of view he has to reject it as things stand at the moment. “Last year we were asked if we wanted to go up and we’re sure we have a good chance again this year. But it doesn’t work without the support of a main sponsor,” Zimmermann begins and complains: “I don’t understand that there is no company in a city like Ingolstadt that is willing to raise 10,000 euros for a judo Bundesliga club.” This amount (additionally to the annual club subsidy for the department of 13,000 euros) would, in his estimation, be enough to be able to tackle the adventure of first class with the ESV. With an additional 30,000 euros, a team in the upper house could even “play a good role”.
There is still time until the end of the year, then the “Coyotes” will have to make a decision. One thing is already certain for Zimmermann: “We’re not going up there just to be there – and then we’ll be shown. Then we’d rather stay in the 2nd Bundesliga with this great team.”
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Celebrated trainer: The ESV judoka celebrated head coach Sebastian Zimmermann. Photo: Roth
