Paris St.-Germain Falls Short in Champions League Judo Tournament

Even if the rare guest on Europe’s judo mats, Teddy Riner, won all of its fights, favorite Paris St.-Germain once again only had to settle for third place in the final tournament of the Champions League in Belgrade. The men’s title was won by the Serbian sensation team OJK Belgrade, which, after beating Riner’s team 3-0 in the semifinals, also won the final against Aris Saloniki (GRE). However, Paris St.-Germain remained successful among women. Austria’s champions, M&R Galaxy Tigers (W / men) and ESV Sanjindo (S / women) were not at the start.

Paris St.-Germain has been trying to win the Champions League in judo for years. The French were also the clear favorites for the men’s title on Saturday in Belgrade. Even the PSG icon Teddy Riner, three-time Olympic champion and 11-time world champion, who had recently made himself rare on Europe’s mats and was also missing from the home European Championships in Montpellier, found his way to the Serbian capital. The heavyweight star contributed with his ippon victory against the Uzbek Alisher Yusupov He contributed to the 3-1 win against the Spanish club Stabia, and he also won his fight in the semi-final against OJK Belgrade Milos Vukicevic to the red card, but Paris lost 1:3. That was it for the French, who were also Georgia’s Olympic champions Lascha Bekauri showed up, only for bronze. In the narrow 3:2 (there are only five weight classes in the Champions League) against Golden Gori (GEO), Riner won against Shalva Gureshidze with Ippon, Bekauri also won against his Georgian compatriot.

In the final, the judoka from OJK Belgrade beat Ari UGRE 3-0 and caused a sensation in their own hall. In addition to Paris, Red Star Belgrade also took bronze. In the women’s event, however, PSG beat their compatriots from the Judo Club Pontault Combault 3-0 in the final, with bronze going to Galatasaray Istanbul (TUR) and RSC Champigny (FRA). A total of eleven men’s and eight women’s teams took part. Austria’s champions M&R ​​Galaxy did not take part for financial reasons. “We cannot raise the 15,000 euros needed for such a tournament without a sponsor,” explained the Galaxy club boss Thomas Haasmann the absence of his team.

Photo: Rare guest on Europe’s mats – Teddy RINER (white) at the Champions League in Belgrade – @EJU / Gabi Juan

2023-12-09 22:04:17
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