East Hesse (pm/pf) – The Open Thuringian Judo Championships and the Saalfeld Cup tournament in the U21 and U30 as well as in the Old School category took place in Thuringia on Saturday. Old School – these are the techniques that were allowed before 2008, such as leg grabs. Like last year, Christian Krüger from the 1st Fulda Judo Club competed in the U30 and Old School.
Before things even started, Marcus Utzat, head coach of JC Asahi Bremen, asked Krüger whether he would still like to fight for his team in the team fights. The East Hesse man spontaneously agreed.
The cup tournament was fought first. Dmytro Yerhiiev from Chemnitz PSV (CPSV) was Krüger’s first opponent, and it was a battle of equals. Neither of them was able to gain an advantage in the regular fight time, so the decision had to be made in overtime. After 17 seconds in the Golden Scoore, Christian Krüger won with Ippon for Seoi-otoshi. Then it was against Ahmed Salim PSV Erfurt: Krüger went behind after a minute with Yuko. 56 seconds before the end, Ippon for Krüger with Tai-otoshi – pool victory and semi-finals reached.
There it was against Robert Cyris from SG Moto Halle. After just under a minute, Christian Krüger took the lead by a Yuko score with a Waza-ari and a subsequent seven-second hold riff. After another 30 seconds, the Ippon for Ko-uchi-makikomi. Ahmed Salim from Erfurt was waiting again in the final. He had been well adjusted by his supervisor and knew how to block Krüger’s attacks. Salim scored a low score (Yuko) after 45 seconds and defended the lead with luck and skill over time. So second place and the silver medal in the cup tournament were certain.
Afterwards we continued in the Old School category. There were five fighters and the fight was everyone against everyone. First up for East Hesse was Pavlo Dushchak CPSV. After 45 seconds, Krüger took the lead with a Yoko score for Soto-makikomi and a subsequent hold (eleven seconds) and followed up with a Waza-ari score. After another 45 seconds, a combination of Seoi-otoshi (Yoko) and hold followed, then the Ippon for Krüger. In the second fight it was like in the cup tournament against Dmytro Yerhiiev. The man from Chemnitz received a low rating for a lifting technique after 30 seconds. Due to the constant attacks on the legs, Christian Krüger couldn’t find a way to attack himself. Five seconds before the end there was an attack from Fulda, the Ippon with a kind of O-goshi. Then Robert Cyris waited: Krüger got a Yuko rating for Kata-guruma after 17 seconds. After another minute, Cyris was disqualified because he had illegally attacked the supporting leg. In the last pool fight, a narrow defeat would have been enough for the overall victory: But Krüger didn’t want to take the risk and went full victory. Although he was superior, the ratings didn’t really work out. But 15 seconds before the end, Seoi-otoshi got the high score – that meant class victory and the gold medal in the old school category.
Afterwards the team fights were on the program. In consultation with the Bremen trainer Utzat, Christian Krüger was spared in the first fight. The Bremen coach, who had often observed Krüger in northern Germany, said he should get the point for the “Weser Bremen” team in the second team fight. There it was against the team Berlin and Friends. And again it was against Robert Cyris for the third time that day. This was Christian Krüger’s ninth fight of the day and he showed his excellent fitness. After a minute he managed a Waza-ari score for Ko-uchi-makikomi and confidently defended his lead. The team fight ultimately went to the Bremen team 4:3. In the end there was second place because the team fight against the Chemnitz team was lost.
Two trophies, a gold and a silver medal are now going to Giesel: Krüger, who was in Saalfeld for the third time, just said: “This will be my favorite tournament” – because it is not that far away and he can fight a lot.
