Nov 4, 2023 at 1:43 PM Update: a day ago
Sanne van Dijke won bronze at the European Judo Championships in Montpellier on Saturday. She defeated Elisavet Teltsidou. For Kim Polling the tournament ended in failure, while Joanne van Lieshout and Frank de Wit also missed out on the prizes.
Van Dijke reached the quarter-finals in the category up to 70 kilos, but lost to the Russian Madina Taimazova. Because the 28-year-old from Brabant won the repechage round, she remained in the race for bronze.
In an exciting match, Van Dijke then defeated Teltsidou. She eventually defeated her Greek opponent by ippon.
Van Dijke secured the first Dutch medal in Montpellier. The question is how satisfied she will be with this bronze medal, because she already has two European titles and three European silver medals on her list of honors.
Earlier in the day, De Wit, Polling and Van Lieshout were eliminated. This will be a disappointment especially for 32-year-old Polling. The 2013 world champion said she had doubts about her form in the run-up to the European Championships. After her pregnancy in 2022, she only gradually achieved top form.
The difference is enormous compared to her time of success, when Polling became the best in Europe four times. She won European Championship gold three times in a row in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and was also the best in Europe in her weight category (-70 kg) in 2018.
Image: ANP
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