(PRIMASPORT) ROME – Once again our wonderful Odette Giuffrida(Army) confirms its quality by winning the world bronze.
Odette started as the top seed and faced Rodrigues (BRA) in her opening match, defeating her by three penalties to two. In her second match, she faced Moroccan Iraoui, winning by yuko. In the quarterfinals, she defeated Mammadaliyeva (AZE), scoring the first yuko with tomoe-nage, the second with kata guruma, and managing to secure the final ippon with a sukashi on uchi-mata. The Italian then lost in the semifinals to Spain's Toro Soler, losing by ippon with kouchi-gari.
In the final for the world bronze medal, she faced Germany's Ballhaus (GER), coming off a thrilling match against Japan's Abe. Odette once again demonstrated her caliber by landing a yuko with her de-ashi-barai and continuing on the ground with okuri-eri-jime, earning a final ippon. Today, the Italian once again rose to the world podium with class.
The words of the Italian are full of emotion: “After Mongolia, I had a very difficult time. An injury took the rug out from under me, I spent my days in physiotherapy, and I was very confused. Someone important told me that these are the days when you show who you really are. After losing the semifinal, it was tough; I don't think I spoke for at least two hours. I had to regain my balance to fight for the final and to avoid going home with possible regrets. I enjoy judo a lot, and it was difficult because, due to the injuries, I had to endure tough training sessions to find myself again. But until now, I've never found myself again; I've never had a good feeling. Arriving at a competition with little training and less joy in being on the mat wasn't easy. Now I need a home and my family.”.
The same emotion also shines through Francis Bruyere: “Odette leaves me speechless; she never ceases to amaze us. Winning another world medal, competing at this level at 31, and being among the strongest for over 15 years is never a given. Beyond the medal itself, it's important to value her daily life and the strength she puts into every detail. It's a shame about the semifinal, but even after a defeat, she managed to find herself again. Today she was struggling to process the loss. And with Maria Centracchio, we managed to defuse the situation. Then she came back for the final even stronger than Odette in the preliminary rounds. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the federal medical staff who helped her through a period of injuries, and I offer her my compliments: winning with her seems routine, but it isn't, and today she confirmed her immense value."”
Valerio Accogli (Carabinieri) finished seventh in the -66 kg category. The Italian defeated Ortikov (UZB), Chernov (UKR), and Pashayev (AZE) in the preliminary rounds. In the quarterfinals, he lost solely on penalties to Abe (JPN), the eventual world champion. In the rematch, he was stopped by European champion Chopanov (RUS), in a hard-fought match that saw Valerio secure the final yuko.
In the same weight category, less fortunate day for Matteo Piras (Army) who stops against Polikevicius (LTU) in the opening match.
Here is the comment of Raffaele Toniolo: “Second day of competition and second Italian medal thanks to an unwavering Odette. Her commanding performance took her all the way to the semifinals, where a small distraction during the golden score relegated her to the bronze medal match. However, Ody wanted to take home her third world medal and defeated the fearsome Ballhaus with a de-ashi-barai followed by ippon with shime-waza. What can I say...immense. Valerio Accogli also had a great performance, and with this brilliant seventh place finish he consolidates his position at the top of the WRL world rankings.”
Tomorrow is the third day of competition, to be followed on judo.tv while the finals will be broadcast on Sky Sport Arena, RAi Play and RAI Sport, with John Esposito (Blue Flames) and Leonardo Valeriani (Fiamme Gialle) in the -73 kg, Giulia Carnà (Fiamme Oro) in the -57 kg category. (PRIMASPORT)
