2007 Birmingham World Cup Team

Member News

September 20, 2007

U.S. Men to Compete in Birmingham World Cup this Weekend

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Just days after the conclusion of the World Championships in Rio de Janeiro , the European Tour starts up again with its first stops on the fall leg of the A-Level tournament series being held this weekend.

Competitors from 30 countries have been confirmed to compete in the Fighting Films GB World Cup for Men on Saturday and Sunday at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham , Great Britain .

Team USA consists of seven players, including World Team member Ryan Reser (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center / 73kg) who returned to Colorado on Tuesday afternoon which amounted to be just enough time to put down the luggage, pack a new bag, say hello to the dogs and get on a plane to Birmingham on Wednesday.

The reigning Pan Am Champion and one of the top 10 players in the world, Reser had a difficult World Championships, losing in the first round and failing to get pulled through to the repechage, but he will be back on tour for both this event and the Rotterdam Super World Cup next weekend with hopes of returning to his A-Level game. Although Reser stands to be one of the highest ranked players at the event, three of his past opponents are all expected to be in attendance: Dirk van Tichelt (BEL) who defeated Reser en route to Reser’s bronze medal at the 2006 Belgian Open; Marco Maddaloni (ITA) who threw Reser in the finals of the Swiss Open in April; and Bryan van Dijk (NED) who beat Reser in the finals of the Rotterdam World Cup last year.

Josh O’Neil (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center) has the distinction of competing in both his first Tour event as well as fighting for just the third time ever in his new weight class of 60kg after cutting down from 66kg over the summer. The new weight has suited him well, though, as he placed fifth at the German Open in August, a Worlds tune-up event, and won the Fall Classic Nationals where he beat two of the top-four U.S. players in the division as well as the 2006 Senior National Champion. Among the players to watch in O’Neil’s division are 2005 World Champion Craig Fallon (GBR), 2004 Olympic fifth-place finisher Kenji Uematsu (ESP) and 20-year-old Rok Draksic (SLO) who just placed fifth at the Worlds in Rio . Two other players O’Neil might encounter are Joao Cardoso (POR) and Elio Verde (ITA) who U.S. World Team member Taraje Williams-Murray (Bronx, N.Y. / NYAC / Spartak Sports Club) beat in the first and second rounds in Rio.

Reser and O’Neil will compete along with 66kg player Kenny Hashimoto (San Jose , Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University) on Saturday. Hashimoto is currently the second-ranked player in the division and has had success in North America , but will be looking to break through at his first major European event. Two of the toughest players in Hashimoto’s division are expected to be four-time World Cup medalist Pedro Dias (POR) and 17-year-old Jean-Rene Badrick (GBR) who defeated nearly all of the top Americans at the 2006 U.S. Open, but lost his opening round match in Rio to 2007 National Champion Justin Flores (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center).

Competition will continue on Sunday with the heavyweight (81kg, 90kg, 100kg and +100kg) divisions.

Aaron Cohen (Buffalo Grove , Ill. / NYAC / Cohen’s Judo) won a silver medal in the 81kg division during his last trip to Europe at the B-Level Swiss Open in April and is looking to reclaim the #1 U.S. ranking in his division with a top-three finish this weekend. If both athletes appear, watch out for a rematch between Giuseppe Maddaloni (ITA), the 2000 Olympic Champion in the 73kg division, and Euan Burton (GBR) who fought to Golden Score (overtime) in the bronze medal match at the Worlds. Burton threw Maddaloni for a yuko (quarter-point) score to win the bronze and has won two of their three matches this year.

Thirty-three-year-old Roger Mazzella (Natick , Mass. / Tohoku / 90kg) will be competing in his first major event since the 2006 Senior Nationals silver medalist was injured during the Rendez-Vous Canada a year ago. Look for the division favorites to be 2004 Olympic Champion Ilias Illiadis (GRE) who won a silver medal in Rio and Roberto Meloni (ITA), the World bronze medalist.

Shintaro Higashi (Scarsdale, N.Y. / NYAC / Kokushi Budo Institute of New York) won his first Senior National Championship in April, taking gold at 100kg division and will be competing at his first European event in the division. Hometown favorite Peter Cousins (GBR) moved up from 90kg earlier this year and won a silver medal at Worlds last week.

Daniel McCormick (Wakefield, Mass. / USA Judo National Team FORCE) will be fighting in the +100kg division. McCormick won bronze medals during his last two trips to Great Britain at the 2005 and 2007 B-Level British Opens. Athletes to watch in the division include 2004 Olympic medalist Dennis van der Geest (NED), 13-time World Cup medalist Martin Padar (EST) and up-and-coming teenager Adam Okroashvili (GEO).