“The Japanese dominate the world. Even when they are in difficulty, they always manage to find the little thing that will make the difference”, noted Christophe Massina, the boss of the French women’s team, after the defeat of the Blues in final (4-2). “So we will continue to work.”
“We hooked them anyway. Both in the girls and in the guys, we made them doubt. We show them that it will never be easy against us”, he continued.
This is the fifth time that the mixed team event has been on the program of the World Championships and it is the fifth time that Japan has won. The Blues won their fourth silver medal in a row in this event.
“We wanted the gold, we got the silver, but it’s a very good money”, summed up Romane Dicko, the day after his individual gold in +78 kg.
Revanchist Cystic
The Japanese thus take their revenge after their setback last year against the Habs, led at the time by Teddy Riner and Clarisse Agbégnénou, in the final of their home Olympics (4-1).
In Uzbekistan, without their two leaders, the French team was enterprising and aggressive but ended up giving in.
In the final, Romane Dicko (+70 kg) and Sarah-Léonie Cysique (-57 kg), revenge after the huge disappointment of her premature elimination in solo, brilliantly brought points to the Blues. But Marie-Eve Gahié, still trapped by Saki Niizoe in -70 kg, Alexis Mathieu (-90 kg), Joseph Terhec (+90 kg) and Joan-Benjamin Gaba, despite a heroic fight in -73 kg, did not knew how to impose.
To reach the final, the French had been able to count on an impressive Romane Dicko to dispose of the Georgians 4-1 for their entry into the running.
In the quarter-finals, the Blues then clearly dominated China, the 23-year-old judoka being particularly expeditious against her opponent, knocked down in 22 seconds. “(After the day on Wednesday), I was tired, I had to do my best to shorten it,” she smiled. Then they beat Israel 4-1 in the semi-finals.
“Things to Review”
Less than two years from the Paris Olympics, the French judokas therefore conclude the competition with five medals, but only one title.
The last two days of competition, with the gold of Dicko and the bronze of Julia Tolofua in +78 kg on Wednesday, in addition to this collective silver medal on Thursday, smiled more on the Blues than the start of the week. But during the first six days, only Amandine Buchard in -52 kg and Manon Deketer in -63 kg had managed to win bronze medals.
Before arriving in the capital of Uzbekistan, the Blues, especially the women’s team, had much higher ambitions.
“We end with two good days but overall, we missed out on a lot of categories,” admitted the boss of the Blues, Larbi Benboudaoud. “So the results are not necessarily positive, especially with the weapons we had, we have to be honest. There are certainly things to review.”
To get back in the saddle before the ultimate meeting of the Olympic Games at home, the Habs will have the opportunity to defend their chances on the planetary stage again at the next World Championships in Doha in less than seven months. With no doubt the returns of Teddy Riner and Clarisse Agbégnénou, and lessons learned from this Uzbek week.
