JSV Speyer Men Aim for Participation in Final Round of Judo Bundesliga

Participation in the final round is still the goal of the JSV men

Speyer. The men’s Judo Bundesliga South, in which the JSV Speyer team starts on Saturday with an away fight against record champions TSV Abensberg, looks a little different this year than usual. After the withdrawal of the reigning champions KSV Esslingen as well as VfL Sindelfingen and JC Rüsselsheim as well as the promotion of BC Karlsruhe, the bottom line is that there are two fewer teams in the league and therefore two fewer days of fighting than before.

The goal of the Speyer team has not changed: As in recent years, to stay in the race for the first two places in the table, which entitles them to participate in the final round, for as long as possible. In this context, the first fights of the season will set the tone, starting with the duel on Saturday in Lower Bavaria. The Speyer team have never been able to get anything worth counting there, even if they came close two years ago. That’s why the role of favorite is clearly distributed. However, it remains to be seen how many of the numerous top fighters in the Abensberg squad are actually available, as the Bundesliga fight takes place between two Grand Prix tournaments that are important for Olympic qualification and parallel to a European Cup. The JSV is therefore very happy and grateful that the two Georgians Onise Bughadze and Irakli Kupatadze are available despite their national team appearances.

However, Pierre Ederer, who is competing in the European Cup, Michel Adam, who is doing an internship in Australia, and newcomer Jan-Niklas Goldhammer, who moved from Sindelfingen to Speyer and, like Ederer, competes up to 100 kilograms, will be missing. He tore his cruciate ligament, which is why his JSV debut will have to wait for some time.

Two newcomers who are about to make their debut are Mahomed Khakimov and Lukas Klemm. The Ukrainian Khakimov lives in Munich and was won over to the JSV by Michel Adam, who also lives there. Last season he fought for VfL SIndelfingen with considerable success. Lukas Klemm also worked for a competitor last year, namely KSV Esslingen. After the champions withdrew, he decided to move to Speyer, where the good contact with the JSV players Til Braunbach, Samuel Mendel and Pierre Ederer played an important role. “Lukas Klemm is extremely experienced and a good driving force for the young fighters. He could certainly have earned more money somewhere else, but he chose us because the environment here suits him well,” explains the Speyer team boss, who is in good spirits to be able to fight on an equal footing despite the failures. “We have a powerful, uncomfortable team that we have to beat first, and we are looking forward to this cracker at the start of the season against the record champions.”

Text and photo: JSV Speyer

2024-03-15 11:45:52
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