Today, on the eve of the first day of competition, the ceremony took place draw for the Grand Slam Antalya 2024, the seventh seasonal event of the Judo World Tour and the fourth tournament of an extremely intense March. The Turkish city hosts 628 athletes from 93 different countries over the weekend, with Italy appearing at the starting line of this important event with a representative of 17 judokas (10 women and 7 men). So let’s find out the possible path and ambitions of the Azzurri in Antalya.
Let’s start with the world number 1 of -48 kg Assunta Scutto, the clear favorite at the top of the draw with the prospect of reaching the Japanese champion Natsumi Tsunoda in the final, currently the strongest on the planet in this category. Also credited with the first seeding Odette Giuffrida in the -52 kg category, with a luxury semi-final against the Japanese dominator Uta Abe on the horizon. Some pitfalls in the preliminary rounds for Veronica Toniolon.4 of the seeding in -57 kg, who could then meet the highly rated German Pauline Starke in the quarterfinals and follow the phenomenal Canadian Christa Deguchi in the semifinals, while in the same category Thauany David Capanni Dias she has two matches within her reach before finding the strong Brazilian Jessica Lima (n.10 of the WRL) in the round of 16.
Interesting chance in the -63 kg range for the eighteen year old Savita Russo, inserted in a segment of the draw led by the Brazilian fifth seed Ketleyn Quadros, an opponent already beaten recently by our standard bearer. In the quarterfinals there would probably be the Portuguese bogeyman Barbara Timo, while still in the -63 kg category Flavia Favorini she will have to overcome herself to go beyond the possible round of 16 against the Japanese Miku Takaichi.
Judo, the Italians in the balance in the Olympic rankings towards Paris 2024 and the question of the continental quota
Bad draw for Italy in the -70 kg, with Martina Esposito immediately against the difficult Dutch Kim Polling to challenge the n.1 seeded Miriam Butkereit in the round of 16, and with Irene Pedrotti paired with the German Giovanna Scoccimarro after losing the last previous match a week ago in Tbilisi. Possible top8 target for Giorgia Stangherlin in the -78 kg, even if she would start the quarterfinals as an underdog against the Teutonic Alina Boehm, while Asya Tavano she was excluded from the seedings in the +78 kg category and will have to invent something special to reach the quarterfinals by facing the winner of the last Georgian Slam on her debut and followed by the world n.5 Kim Hayun.
Complicated but not prohibitive scoreboard for the Italian pair of -60 kg: Andrea Carlino challenges the Uzbek Doston Ruziev in the first round with the prospect of an eighth with the Azerbaijani Yusifov or the Turkish Yildiz, while Angelo Pantano he had a soft debut and then faced the fearsome Uzbek number 3 seeded Baratov in the round of 16. Good draw in the -66 kg for the returnee Elios Manziwho can play it in the first three rounds while waiting for a possible uphill fourth against the n.11 in the ranking Tilovov.
Ambitions relating to the level of final result in the -73 kg per Edoardo Mella and the young man Manuel Parlati, called upon to undertake a feat to bring the Final Block closer. Galvanized by the Olympic selection for Paris, Antonio Esposito he is aiming for the podium in the -81 kg category despite a fairly competitive Pool D in which the eventual fourth with the Tajik Makhmadbekov stands out. Approachable first round with the Turkish Sismanlar but extremely convincing eighth against the big Russian Adamian in the -100 kg for Gennaro Pirelli, looking for an exploit to bring the direct Olympic pass closer.
2024-03-28 15:47:49
#Scutto #Giuffrida #seeded #n.1
