Thomas Scharfetter showed unexpected strength on Saturday at the Judo Grand Prix in Linz with third place in the class up to 90 kg. The full-time butcher prevailed in front of 2,000 spectators in the medal fight in the Golden Score against Marcus Nyman from Sweden, who came third in the World Championships.
It was the second ÖJV surprise after the teacher Florian Doppelhammer, who finished fifth in his Grand Prix debut (up to 66 kg).
“Never dreamed of it”
“I didn’t stand a chance for the first three minutes, but the longer the fight went on, the better it went. At the end, Marcus ran out of air more and more. The hall pushed me, it was an incredible atmosphere,” said the 22-year-old from Salzburg. “Even I would never have dreamed of it. I wanted to win a fight or two.” Head coach Yvonne Snir-Bönisch said: “It’s hard to understand what Thomas has achieved. He was world class today.”
Successful performance in Linz
Maria Höllwart finished seventh in the class over 78 kg, as did Laurin Böhler up to 100 kg. All in all, there was a category win by Shamil Borchashvili (up to 81 kg) in Linz, a third place and seven other top seven places for Austria. “This is a huge success for Judo Austria and of course has to do with the home advantage,” said ÖJV sports director Markus Moser.
2023-05-27 17:51:02
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