PSV Duisburg wants to attack with international experience

During a team training session, the men from PSV Duisburg’s judo department got in the mood for the upcoming league season. Joint preparations with all league athletes have been rare so far. But thanks to the dojo set up last year in the sports hall of the Steinbart-Gymnasium, such training outside of the regular sports activities is now possible flexibly and the team spirit can be strengthened and individual strengths can be worked out in the run-up to the fighting days.

After a rather mixed year 2022, the team is looking forward to the first league season without restrictions since the beginning of the corona pandemic with good hope thanks to some growth. “We have strengthened ourselves well, especially in the heavyweight division,” said sporting director Jan-Luca Schmitz. Since last year, Aliaksandr Vakhaviak, who competes in the over 100 kilogram class, is a very experienced and internationally successful athlete for PSV. The 35-year-old Belarusian was one of the medalists at the Grand Slams in Abu Dhabi in 2016 and in Paris in 2018.

The team is also stronger across the board. In many weight classes there are now more fighters available than last season. This makes it easier to absorb absences due to illness, for example.

“We definitely want to attack at the top this year,” says Schmitz, describing the team’s goal for the coming Oberliga season. This starts with a home fight: On Sunday, PSV welcomes the judokas from JC 66 Bottrop II and TV Dellbrück. The fight begins at 11 a.m. in the hall of the southern comprehensive school on Grossenbaumer Allee.

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