Daniel Gavilán seems like another judoka after the disappointment of Tokyo 2020. He wants to redeem himself by not going to the last Paralympic Games and his road to Paris 2024 has started brilliantly. That setback did not weaken him, on the contrary, he decided to reset and the hard work on the tatami is paying off. If last September he climbed to the third step of the podium in the European Championship, now he has won a bronze in the World Championship in the J2 -60 kilos category.
The man from Madrid started the competition at the Heydar Aliyev Arena in Baku (Azerbaijan) with a victory by ippon against the Indian Deepak Kumar. In the quarterfinals, he also beat South Korean Min Jae Lee, seeded number two in the tournament, by ippon. In the semifinals he could not beat the Ukrainian Davyd Khorava, who would ultimately take the gold.
And in the fight for bronze he had to sweat and work every second of the fight to achieve victory against Uzbek Sherzod Namozov, Paralympic gold medalist in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Asian champion. Both arrived tied for wazari and with two shidos (penalties), so the duel had to be resolved using the gold technique. Gavilán attacked his opponent without finding a loophole to break him, until the Uzbek committed a third shido that gave the Spaniard the bronze.
The cross of the coin fell to Sergio Ibáñez, who finished fifth in J2 -73 kilos, a category to which he is adapting a year after winning the Paralympic silver in -66 kilos. The Aragonese had a gray debut when he lost to the Azerbaijani Namig Abasli, but he was able to recover and in the playoff he added two wins by ippon against the Lithuanian Osvaldas Bareikis and the Georgian Bachuki Shelia. However, in the fight for bronze, Kazakh Olzhas Orazalyuly scored an ippon eight seconds into the match.
Also with a bittersweet taste, Marta Arce leaves, who brushed the medal in category J2 -57 kilos after being fifth. The woman from Valladolid -silver in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, and bronze in London 2012-, who arrived motivated after winning a bronze in the absolute Spanish Cup against sighted rivals, started at a good level by defeating the Egyptian Marwa by ippon Hasany and the Brazilian Lucía Araújo. In the semi-finals she fell to Turkey’s Zeynep Celik via pinning technique, and then lost by wazari in the bronze match to Kazakh Dayana Fedossova.
The young rookie María Manzanero finished in seventh position in J1 -57 kilos. In the first round, the Madrid native defeated the Italian Asia Giordano, one of the favorites for the medals, by ippon. In the quarterfinals she could not beat the Turkish Dondu Yesilyurt and in the playoff she beat the Indian Priya by ippon, but then lost to the Argentine Paula Gómez.
On the other hand, Carmen Herrera and Álvaro Gavilán were left without competing since they did not pass the medical examination. A jug of cold water for both, who arrived excited at the championship. The woman from Malaga -Paralympic champion in Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012- planned to reappear in a World Cup seven years later, but the strict new regulations ended her dream. As for the man from Madrid, his presence in future IBSA tournaments has not yet been ruled out, since he will be able to undergo another medical exam to see if he passes the classification.
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