Ivan Fedorenko of the 1. Fuldaer Judo-Club claimed the bronze medal in the under-60 kilogram division at the German Judo Federation’s U17 national ranking tournament in Herne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, osthessen-news.de reported. The competition drew 194 male judoka to the venue over the weekend, marking a slight dip in overall participation compared to the previous year’s figures documented by national governing body records.
National Field and Coaching Presence in Herne
The event served as an important evaluation stage for the German national youth program. Bundestrainer Juan Ignacio Cuneo watched bouts from mat-side as athletes competed across various weight classes. Federation records show a total of 194 participants across the male divisions in Herne, representing a decrease of 35 competitors from the prior year’s turnout at the same tournament.
Fedorenko traveled to North Rhine-Westphalia following a demanding preparation window. As a member of the Hesse state squad, he spent four days in early October at a central national training camp hosted at the Federal Performance Center in Kienbaum. Club teammate Max Schlaudraff joined him on the trip, with both athletes receiving instruction from Fulda coach Meruzahn Tatoian.
Path to the Under-60 Kilogram Podium
Competing in a 33-athlete bracket, Fedorenko received a first-round bye before opening his match sequence against Robert Nieuwoudt of the Dürkheimer Judo-Vereinigung. According to the reported match breakdown, Fedorenko built an early advantage with yuko scores from a foot sweep and a deep seoi-nage. He followed with a waza-ari for another deep seoi-nage, added a yuko for an o-uchi-gari, and sealed the victory with a second waza-ari executed via ura-nage.
His second test against Alessandro Damiano Wittenberg-Marangione of VfL Grasdorf lasted just 24 seconds. After earning a waza-ari from a foot sweep, Fedorenko forced his opponent to submit using a chokehold. He then advanced past Harun Kartoev of VfL Sindelfingen by securing an ippon via kata-guruma.
The semifinal round presented his only major tactical hurdle. Arthur Kremer of PSV Berlin steered the bout to accumulate three shido penalties against Fedorenko, ending the Fulda fighter’s run at the gold medal. Rebounding in the bronze-medal match against Julian Hein of TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Fedorenko needed only 14 seconds to register an ippon with a decisive foot sweep, securing third place overall.
Contrsting Fortunes for Fulda’s Representation
While Fedorenko climbed the podium after a fifth-place finish at a prior tournament in Abensberg, teammate Max Schlaudraff faced an early exit in the under-66 kilogram category. Schlaudraff entered the largest bracket of the tournament, which featured 41 competitors. After dropping his second-round match to Vincenzo Marco Aurelio Caprano of JC Uni Rostock, Schlaudraff was eliminated from the tournament entirely because Caprano failed to reach the semifinals, closing off the repechage route.
Official German Judo Federation records list Sou Garve of UJKC Potsdam as the winner of the under-60 kg division where Fedorenko took bronze, with Arthur Kremer taking silver and Gleb Onishchenko of Heidelberger JC sharing the third-place step on the podium alongside Fedorenko.
Tournament Structure and Division Winners
The Herne tournament forms part of the German Judo Federation’s official calendar for youth development. Alongside the male competition in Herne, a separate U17 women’s national ranking tournament took place in Holzwickede, drawing 119 female athletes from 16 regional state associations.
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