Niko Shera has once again remembered the taste of a medal. The Spanish judoka took bronze in the European Judo Championships that were held this weekend in Montpellier and he tasted like victory, on and off the tatami.
The two-time world champion suffered a serious knee injury at the end of last year which forced him to undergo surgery and has kept him out of competition for more than nine months. It has only been a month and a half since he returned to international tournaments, with the Baku Grand Slam and the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam as a tune-up. But it was this Sunday in Montpellier (France) where he has shown that he is returning to his best form ahead of the Paris 2024 Games in the -100kg category.
Shera passed through the tatami of the Sud de France Arena like a steamroller, winning by ippon in the first round against the Danish Mathias Madsen and second against the Portuguese Jorge Fonseca with his unstoppable Uchi Mata, the technique that has given the Spaniard so much joy.
Only the Azerbaijani Zelym Kotsoiev He was able to stop him with warnings. A third shido left him out of the semifinals after a fight in which his fatigue was more than visible.
However, another ippon in the play-off against the Dutchman Michael Korrel put him headlong into the fight for third place, which he won without having to fight the fight with Israeli Peter Paltchikabsent due to injury during the tournament.
Niko Shera (right) poses on the podium with the rest of the medalists. Spanish Judo Federation
Quino’s pupil thus achieves the fifth medal for Spain in this European Championship after the one obtained on Saturday by Salva Cases (-73kg) and on Friday by Fran Garrigós (-60kg), David García Torné (-66kg) y Laura Martinez (-48kg).
A medal that comes at the best time, just a few months before the Paris Games, whose classification is not yet closed. However, the points added by this tournament are essential to achieve the Olympic place in an event that is not new for the Spaniard and in which he can make up for the bad taste in his mouth at Tokyo 2020.
2023-11-05 20:08:35
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