JC Leipzig says goodbye to Mr. Reliable

Leipzig. In the end, the Leipzig judoka were happy that they had called off the move to the kohlrabi circus for the supposedly big martial arts show in their favorite city in good time on the busiest and craziest weekend of the year. So the JCL men, where one or the other police officer was missing because of the registered demos, stayed for their Bundesliga duel in their familiar gymnasium on Brüderstraße, where they celebrated a 12-2 win against VfL Sindelfingen in front of only 200 spectators this time.

With great excitement, the JCL could not score two or three hours before the DFB Cup final kicked off, which was solely due to the guests from Württemberg. Although VfL 37 has registered some well-known and high-performing judoka for the elite league, only a mini-contingent of eight made it to the trade fair city. This left a total of three weight classes vacant in the first and second half of the season, which resulted in a hefty fine from the German Judo Federation. It was a pity especially for Leipzig’s 60-kilo ace Bilguun Dogsom and his fans. The explosive Mongolian had prepared well and had a lot planned – but he only stepped onto the mat briefly, bowed and immediately disappeared again as the winner without a fight.

Since the guests also raised their hand twice at the start of the fight as a sign of surrender due to injury, only nine of 14 judo fights actually took place. In the meantime, JCL President Matthias Kiefer had feared that the club’s treasury would be plundered due to 14 bonuses, but the guests were able to win two duels.

After twelve years, Szoke is over

Matthias Kiefer has been known as a busy man in the background for 13 years – and this time he was the center of attention. The members and sponsors of the association presented the JCL boss with a generous check for a weekend trip with his wife on his 80th birthday. In addition, the still first-class badminton player received an honorary white and yellow (beginner’s) belt. Now everyone is waiting to see if the president will show up on the tatami.

Laszlo Szoke (r.) in Aktion

© What: Frank Krause

It also got emotional: The Romanian Laszlo Szoke (35), one of the most reliable Bundesliga fighters at the JCL for twelve years, said goodbye with a win and was thrown almost to the roof of the hall by his teammates. On June 24th, the fight in Abensberg, which will be decisive for the rest of the season, will follow. Incidentally, the southern relay is even more exciting than usual: the top four teams – Abensberg, Esslingen, Speyer and Leipzig – are almost level after five days of fighting. For the JCL, the semi-finals are still in there despite the 6:8 in Esslingen.

LVZ