80 children at the restart

Hemsbach. After more than ten years of abstinence, the mountain road tournament of the judo department of the Hemsbach Budo Club took place again. In order to be able to get off to a safe start, the judo department decided to only hold the tournament with one age group, the U13, at the restart, but to win as many fighters as possible for them.

The ideal spot for the event was found in the training center’s sports hall. Not only was the competition area with around 300 square meters of space, but also the sales stand and numerous guests. In the end, 80 judoka competed in the revived mountain road tournament. The competition was well organized on three mat surfaces and there were no injuries. After a five-hour competition, the last medals and, as a souvenir, printed glasses were distributed at 3 p.m. thanks to the sponsors, the Sobiegalla dental practice and the Kleiner-Helfer workshop.

2024 will be expanded

The clubs from Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate were enthusiastic about the event and want to come back next year. Then the event will also be expanded to include an age group in order to open up the mountain road tournament to a larger number of judoka. Thanks to the excellent team of helpers and parents from BC Hemsbach, everything worked out perfectly.

If such a tournament is held in front of a home crowd, of course, own fighters should not be missing. For this reason, seven people from Hemsbach started: Gregor Hermann (up to 28 kg), Ben Flörchinger (up to 37 kg), Elijah Ludwig (up to 40 kg), Joshua Knoblauch, Gino Pohl (both up to 43 kg), Lennox Hobrack (up to 46 kg) and Lukas Faden (up to 55 kg).

Gregor had to fight a total of four fights and was happy about fifth place. Elijah also finished the tournament in fifth place. Ben started in a full weight class from which he retired in seventh. Lennox was the unlucky raven and had to admit defeat after two well-fought fights. He was therefore eliminated without a placement.

Joshua and Gino caught the well-known lot and started in the same weight class. While Joshua fought for second place in Group A with two wins and one loss, Gino made the group victory perfect with two wins in Group B. However, they faced each other in the semifinals. This time Joshua was in the lead and made it into the final quite confidently. There he met the opponent against whom he had already lost in the group. In the final, the fight was much more balanced, but ultimately still ended in favor of the opponent. For Joshua, that meant the silver medal, while Gino went home with the bronze.

Lukas finished the day. He dominated his weight class right from the start and showed a spotless performance, especially in the semifinals and finals. He defeated his opponents at lightning speed and left no doubt about the gold medal. With a complete set of bronze, silver and gold medals as well as two fifth places and one seventh place, BC Hemsbach can look back positively on its own youth work. th