The Grand Slam of Tashkent, in Uzbekistan, Sunday March 5, was a very important event with two Frenchmen in balance for the selection for the Worlds, in -90 kilos, the Bragard Axel Clerget and Alexis Mathieu. And finally, the competition flopped, with two eliminations in the first round for the two judokas.
Against Khirgize Sherov, in the World Top 20, and 7e of the participants in the ranking, the Marnavalais Axel Clerget, who collected two “shido” (warnings), conceded two “waza-ari”, the second being fatal to him… “I did not see the fight but I had echoes. Axel thinks of going back to a “waza-ari” everywhere, then it talks to the video and finally it is cancelled. And the fight swings in favor of his opponent who loses directly behind, ”sums up his father, Francis, disappointed.
For the selection, it will not be easy for the management of the Blues. “Alexis Mathieu finished second in the Master, Axel third in Portugal. Will they take one of the two in addition to the one already selected (Ngayap Hambou)? Axel has the experience of major events, with European, world and Olympic medals by mixed teams. He is inevitably disappointed because he wanted to chain fights in this very dense category of -90 kilos. There were still great people here in Asia, more than in Paris, and the selection will be revealed at the beginning of the week, with a big preparation that will follow for the Worlds, in Qatar, at the beginning of May. We’ll see,” concludes Francis Clerget. Answer at the beginning of the week.
N. C.
