“I expect the fighters who haven’t won so far to call up their performance at the latest,” appealed to TSB trainer Uli Rothenhäusler to lightweight Julius Kalifier (up to 73 kilograms) and middleweight Robin Weiler (up to 90 kilograms), who were in the first left the mat as losers in both fights against beatable opponents.
The fact that the TSB judoka were still in the semi-finals was thanks to light-weight Niklas Böhm (up to 66 kilograms), light-middleweight Elis Bonitz (up to 81 kilograms) and heavyweight Oliver Leins (over 90 kilograms). The three athletes had each defeated their opponents from Judoclub Dresden and Judokwai Elz and laid the foundations for the narrow 3:2 victories
In the semifinals against the judoka from Karlstadt, Niklas Böhm showed himself to be reliable again and took the 1:0 lead for the Upper Swabians again in the third fight. Julius Kalfier then had to deal with the Afghan national fighter Jawid Jauhari. Jauhari, who was still at the start at the World Championships in Uzbekistan a few weeks ago, was countered by Kalfier, lifted up and thrown on his back in a high arc to give Ravensburger a 2-0 lead. The momentum was on the side of the TSB Judoka and Elis Bonitz and Robin Weiler scored points three and four. The quick but insignificant defeat of Oliver Leins in the heavyweight division was without much resistance. It was much more important to save energy for the reached final.
As a clear outsider against the Bundesliga team from the Rhineland Judo Team, which weighed the scales with 12 fighters, the TSB Judoka stepped onto the mat in the final fight. The Upper Swabians, who were the youngest team in the tournament with an average age of 20, traveled to Lohr with five athletes.
Niklas Böhm fought a hard fight against Robin Cossman, which was only decided in the golden score for the Bundesliga fighter from the Rhineland judo team. Julius Kalfier once again felt very comfortable playing the underdog role against Oleg Kirasanov. His opponent attacked too violently for a second time, only to be countered, lifted and thrown onto his back in a high arc like Jauhari had done before.
After the fourth win in the fourth fight by Elis Bonitz, Robin Weiler had to go to the mat against the experienced Mathieu Zimmer. Zimmer quickly took the lead with a shoulder throw, but as the fight progressed, he was less and less able to hold out against Weiler’s attacks, conceding the equalizer and finally the second Wazzari for a counterattack. The Oberschwaben led uncatchable with 3:1. Oliver Leins was followed by an exclamation mark with two big ratings and got the last win of the day for a 4:1 victory in the final.
TSB coach Uli Rothenhäusler: “A very strong performance by my young team, which gives hope for the upcoming Baden Württembergliga season.”
