On Saturday, November 27th, the national judo championships for age groups over 35 years of age took place in Pordenone. The only South Tyrolean judo trainer from Rodengo and Vice-Mayor Philipp Hochgruber was at the start (weight class up to 81 kilograms) and came home with the silver medal.
After a bye in the preliminary round, he was able to throw his opponent from Lombardy in extra time with a diving technique in the quarterfinals and secure a place in the semifinals. There he succeeded early in the fight – using a leg technique – to achieve a score. He resolutely followed up with a hold-on technique and was able to win the fight ahead of time.
In the final, he fought a close fight with his opponent from Lazio, so that this went into overtime, where the Rodenecker had to admit defeat on points.
For Hochgruber, who is also Vice-Mayor of Rodeneck (citizen list “We for Rodeneck”), it was the first medal at state championships of the most important and largest martial arts association in Italy. After a few years’ break from competition, he was very satisfied with the result.
“In the preparation time for the big tournaments of the young Judokas of my home clubs in Rodeneck and St. Lorenzen, I did many training matches as a sparring partner and also accompanied our athletes to various training camps. This apparently kept me fit. In the past month I intensified my training and kept an eye on the weight in order to prepare for the tournament. So I’m all the happier that I was fighting for the medals and, after so many years on the judo mat, was even able to bring home silver, ”says Hochgruber happily.
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