After we delivered a fantastic team performance at the 1st Elzer Saale Cup last year, unfortunately only one fighter, Constantin Gudde, took part this time. With his 58 kg, he was still a newcomer and was placed in a pool with three other fighters who also matched him well in terms of the belt. In the Romania pool, Constantin then took part in his first fight against Damian from Hanover under the eyes of his father and trainer Daniel Gettmann. Constantin was clearly superior to his opponent and so he showed a beautiful Uchi-mata. Unfortunately, his opponent was strong on the ground and quickly spun out of the hold and even got Constantin into a hold. But Constantin fought his way out of it quickly enough before any points were awarded and so there were no consequences. Since the fight was using the adding system, the fight was not yet over after Constantin’s Ippon, the highest score for a perfect throw, but continued happily. Constantin threw three more throws, but they only gave small points and unfortunately he didn’t manage to properly control his opponent on the ground. But the three small scores (two points) and his five points for the first Uchi-mata were enough ten points required to end the fight prematurely and with zero.
His second fight was against Simon from Bad Gandersheim, who was at his very first tournament and was still slightly injured from his first fight. Constantin dominated the fight and again showed several nice throws. However, there was also a small moment of shock when Constantin ended up in the hold himself after a rolled-up Uchi-mata. But he was able to free himself in time and won again with 10-0 points.
In the last fight against Marius, also from Bad Gandersheim, it was about deciding who would get first place and who would get second place, because both had won their previous two fights. Marius, also a green belt, was assumed by us in advance to be the strongest but feasible opponent and Constantin’s uncertainty was noticeable. The first time Constantin fell behind. After a nice throw from Constantin, the judges unfortunately made a wrong decision and the points went to Marius again. So it was 5:0 points for Marius and time was running against Constantin. But Constantin has a favorite technique and he had already shown it in the first two fights: Koshi-uchi-mata, the inner thigh throw, in which the partner’s leg is swept away and the opponent is then thrown over the hip. Constantin is so good at this throw that it earned him the first five points as an ippon and since he then held his opponent directly in a lever so that he had to tee off, he received another five points. So the fight was not only turned around with a great move, but also won straight away. Constantin thus secured a deserved and confident first place. Unfortunately, just one fighter wasn’t enough to take part in the team competition and so we couldn’t defend this title. But we are more than proud of Constantin that he made it to first place and got the gold medal.
2024-04-08 13:47:14
#Gold #2nd #ElzerSaale #Cup
