Several local judokas qualify for African championship
Tuks' judokas have won numerous medals at the recent South African Trials and Ranking Tournament in Cape Town.
A new year with new challenges has arrived but for Tuks‘ judokas it is still business as usual.
They are still winning more fights than they are losing during the important local tournaments.
In the South African Trials and Ranking Tournament, which took place in Cape Town on the first weekend of 2019, they won a total of 21 gold, seven silver and five bronze medals.
It was especially exciting to see how the juniors and cadets were not at all intimidated when fighting against the older and more experienced judokas.
The TuksSport High School twins, Thomas and Donne Breytenbach, both won three gold medals. As did Charné Griesel, who matriculated at the end of last year at Pretoria Girls High School.
Nikola Filipov, head coach at Tuks, rates these three as future Olympians in the making. He is of the opinion that Griesel might even get close to qualifying for next year’s Games in Tokyo.
“Charné can cause a major upset during any tournament. Discipline and dedication are her most outstanding qualities. She is always looking for ways to improve and does not shy away from putting in the long hard hours. She has been with me for the most of December to train,” Filipov explained his confidence in Griesel’s abilities.
According to Filipov it should be remembered that to be a judo champion does not mean that you got to be the strongest or fittest.
“It certainly helps, but judo differs from most other sports in that a fight lasts only four minutes. So, you got to be focused all the time. Any fight can be lost or won in mere hundredths of a second. The most important prerequisite to being competitive during international competitions is having confidence and being able to think on your feet,” said Filipov.
The African Senior Judo Championships will be hosted in Cape Town at the end of April. According to Filipov, it is going to be make or break for any South African judoka with aspirations to qualify for the Tokyo Games.
A first place during the National Trials is a definite for selection to the national team. In some instances, Judo South Africa might also select silver medallists.
The Tuks gold medallists at the trails were Koketso Rammutla (under-55kg), Thomas Breytenbach (under-73kg), DJ le Grange (under-66kg), Donne Breytenbach (under-57kg), Charné Griesel (junior under-52kg as well as senior), Katja Lang (junior under-78kg), Michaela Whitebooi (under-48kg) and Unelle Snyman (under-78kg).
“DJ le Grange, Michaela Whitebooi and Unelle Snyman got to win at the African champs as there are about 750 ranking points on offer. That is about half the points that are necessary to qualify for the Games. If they do so and contest next year’s Africa final, they will be in with a real chance to compete in Tokyo,” Filipov concluded.
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