| Member News
March 9, 2007
Preview of Saturday’s Men’s New York Open Divisions
(New York City, N.Y.) – The New York Open, a men’s senior international elite tournament will be held Saturday with more than 150 athletes from 20 countries scheduled to participate.
The event, held at the New York Athletic Club, 180 Central Park South, begins with preliminary divisions at 7:30 a.m. and finals to be held after 4 p.m.
A breakdown of the athletes expected to compete is as follows:
60kg
This division may feature a reappearance by Taraje Williams-Murray (Bronx, N.Y. / NYAC / Spartak Sports Club) who competed at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and the 2005 World Championships at 60kg, but spent 2006 fighting at 66kg where he won bronze medals at both the Senior Nationals and the U.S. Open.
Sergio Pessoa Jr. (CAN) will be one of Wiliams-Murray’s toughest opponents. The winner at the prestigious Belgian Open In February, Pessoa won bronze medals at both this event and the U.S. Open last year where he beat Nick Kossor (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) in the final match.
During the past year Kossor has shown tremendous improvement, earning his first Senior Nationals medal with a bronze in April and picked up several key wins during the recent European Tour. Last month Kossor defeated 2006 New York Open Champion Ronnie Talledo (PER / Coral Springs, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai Judo) and Canadian National Champion Blake Tsuyuki at Pedro’s Judo Challenge, a USA Judo Senior E-Level Tournament in Wakefield, Mass.
Among the past medalists competing in this division is Juan Roman (PUR) who finished second behind Talledo in 2006.
66kg
Kenny Hashimoto (Thornton, Colo. / Northglenn) held the #1 U.S. ranking until last week and will be looking to regain it with podium finish and is the top seed in New York in the absence of #1-ranked Justin Flores (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center / San Shi). One of Hashimoto’s early wins at the 2006 U.S. Open came over Roberto Ibanez (ECU), a fifth-place finisher at the 2006 Pan Ams who also is expected to compete in New York. Hashimoto also beat 2006 New York Open Champion Taylor Takata (Harlingen, Texas / Harlingen USA Judo National Training Site) at the U.S. Open to win bronze.
Last year's runner-up Marke Krecielewski (POL) also will be returning for another attempt at a medal.
Also look for Sasha Mehmedovic (CAN), a bronze medalist here in 2006 to do well. Mehmedovic defeated Takata in the bronze medal match of the 2006 Pan Ams, but lost to Flores on this year’s European Tour.
73kg
Ryan Reser (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center) skipped last year’s event to compete in Europe where he won a World Cup silver medal, but he’ll be back this year in search of his first New York Open title.
Although Reser will be the top seed, two of the favorites will be Gennadiy Bilodid (UKR), a 2005 World medalist and two-time European Champion, and Damdin Suldbayar (MGL), a 2003 Asian Championships medalist.
Toni Lettner (GER) is another podium contender. Lettner finished third when he competed here in 2005 and beat Reser in the finals of the 2004 Rendez-Vous Canada.
Poland is sending two quality players in the division with Tomasz Krecielewski who finished third in 2006 and Tomasz Adamiec, a two-time World Cup medalist who usually competes in the 66kg division.
Another lightweight athlete, Gregory Grangier (FRA) won a silver medal in the 66kg division of the 2006 Belgian Open, but ix expected to fight 73kg in New York.
Although the division is filled with top foreign players, look for several other Americans to have good performances including Chuck Jefferson (San Jose, Calif. / San Jose State University). The two-time Pan American Champion took a year off from competition, but kicked off his quest to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in October when he finished second at the U.S. Open, defeating Reser in the process, but losing to top-ranked junior Bobby Lee (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami). Lee should be the #2 seed in this event, but it remains to be seen how the 18-year-old will stack up against the heavy international field.
Two players who had break-through performances at last year’s New York Open were Champion Radu Brestyan (Wakefield, Mass. / Team FORCE) and #2 junior Nick Delpopolo (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) who earned his first major senior medal with a bronze here last year.
81kg
Aaron Cohen (Buffalo Grove, N.Y. / NYAC / Cohen’s Judo) is the top seed in the division. A 2006 Pan Am bronze medalist, Cohen also took a bronze at last year’s New York Open.
Cohen’s only recent lost to an American, however, came in the final of the 2006 U.S. Open to Travis Stevens (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) who has rapidly become a player to watch in the division – even more so after he beat the reigning Japanese National Champion last week at the Warsaw World Cup.
Among the international athletes, look for strong performances from Lukasz Balanda (POL) who won bronze at the Moscow Super World Cup in 2006 and Tyler Boras (CAN) who finished second at the 2006 Pan Ams.
90kg
This could be the division with the most international depth, including Winston Gordon (GBR), a fifth-place finisher at the Athens Games. The eight-time World Cup medalist made his most recent trip to the podium last week at the Warsaw World Cup and finished second earlier in the season at both the Belgian and British Opens.
Also expect a placing from one of the French players, likely either Frederic Stiegelmann, who earned three Super World Cup finishes in 2005 and 2006, or David Zahirovic, a 2004 Belgian Open Champion who may fight up from 81kg. In addition to Zahirovic, two other top players who typically fight 81kg may compete at 90kg, including Nyamchu Damdinsuren (MGL) who finished second two weeks ago at the Otto Super World Cup in Hamburg, and Ricardo Echarte (ESP) who finished fifth at the 2003 Worlds.
Among the American contingent, the reigning National Champion will not be competing, but Rick Hawn (Wakefield, Mass. / Team FORCE), an Athens Olympian at 81kg, will be fighting for the first time in a major event at 90kg after defeating the 2005 National Champion Dariusz Mikolajczak (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Starrett Judo) at the Pedro’s Challenge in February.
100kg
Adler Volmar (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami) is the top-ranked American in this division that also includes 2006 National Champion Djamal Aliev (Centennial, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center) and 45-year-old Rene Capo (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center), a 1988 and 1996 Olympian who has advanced back up the roster to the #3 ranking and went 1-2 with Volmar during their last set of fights at the Fall Classic in September.
Ruslan Mashurenko (UKR) will be one of the biggest threats for the Americans. A bronze medalist in the 90kg division in Sydney, Mashurenko hasn’t been seen much since 2003, but would be a difficult opponent for most athletes.
A pair of Canadians – Guillaume Cavalli and Scott Edward – also are ones to watch. Both Cavalli and Edward beat Volmar at the Rendez-Vous and Edward recently finished second at the British Open. Brazilian Alex Aguiar will be another tough opponent. Aguiar finished second at the 2006 U.S. Open where won of his wins came against Capo.
+100kg
The men’s heavyweight division will include each of the top four U.S. players with 2005 National Champion Kirk Hoffmann (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center) as the top seed. A 2005 World Team and 2006 Pan Am Team member, Hoffmann lost in the finals of the 2006 Senior Nationals to Joel Brutus (Matawan, N.J. / NYAC). A dual citizen with both the United States and Haiti, Brutus had a successful career competing for the Haitian team, winning bronze at the 2006 Pan Ams and silver in 2005, but he received the news late Thursday that he has been cleared to represent the United States in international competition and will compete as an American at the New York Open. Brutus’ new status makes him an athlete to watch not only this weekend, but also at the Senior Nationals as he makes a run at qualifying for the 2007 World and Pan American Games Teams.
Anthony Turner (Miami, Fla. / IntoCombat) lost to Brutus during their semifinal match at the 2006 Nationals, but he beat both Hoffmann and #2 Daniel McCormick (Wakefield, Mass. / Team FORCE) at the Midwest Championships in Chicago last week.
Matches among these four may come in varied combinations in either medal or repechage rounds depending on how the Americans do against a talented group of international players. Brazil’s #2 heavyweight Joao Schlittler (BRA) will be one of the principle threats for the gold medal. Schlittler likely hasn’t been seen much by the Americans, but he finished third at the Budapest World Cup last month and seventh at the Paris Super World Cup. Batjargal Odkhuu, the final athlete in a group of five of Mongolia’s best players, is a former Asian Championships medalist in the 100kg division and Koba Nadiradze (UKR) is a past New York Open Champion who won the 2003 event. |
