Member News
September 28, 2007
Valerie Gotay Wins Bronze in
Rotterdam,
Earns First Super World Cup Medal for Team
USA
Since 2004
 |
Gotay (second from right) receives her bronze medal. |
| |
 |
Digital flags are raised for the medal ceremony. |
| |
 |
Gotay (white) wins her bronze medal match. |
| |
 |
Aaron Cohen and Valerie Gotay. |
| |
 |
Gotay, Cohen and Marti Malloy. |
Perhaps “33” is a good
age. Maybe not for everyone, but for
33-year-old Valerie Gotay (Harlingen,
Texas / USA Judo National Training Site at Harlingen) it’s worked out well
so far as the mother of two added her fifth major international medal of the year
in the 57kg division to her resume when she won bronze at the Rotterdam Super
World Cup in the Netherlands.
The win was the first medal earned by an American at a Super
World Cup since Jimmy Pedro
(Methuen,
Mass.)
placed second at the Hamburg Super World Cup in 2004.
And yes, Pedro’s win also came at the ever-lucky age
33.
After a first-round bye, Gotay, who retired from competition
after the 1992 Olympic Games only to return to the mat in 2004, won her first
match by ippon (instant win) against Fanny
Riaboff (FRA). Riaboff is a
sometimes-63kg player who placed second at the 2006 Birmingham World Cup behind Ronda Rousey
(Wakefield
,
Mass.
/
USA
Judo National Team FORCE / NYAC).
In the quarter-finals, Gotay beat 2007 Paris Super World Cup
Champion and former European medalist Lena
Goeldi (SUI) by ippon to advance to the medal rounds.
Gotay fought a close match, but lost on a penalty in the
semifinals to eventual silver medalist Marlen
Hein (GER).
Gotay went on to fight Kifayat
Gasimova (AZE) in the bronze medal match where the score was tied until the
final five seconds when Gotay double-legged Gasimova to score a koka (smallest
points) and earn the win.
Josh O’Neil
(Colorado Springs
,
Colo.
/
USA
Judo National Training
Site at the Olympic
Training
Center
/ 60kg) also
competed on Friday, winning his first match against Artur Srapyan (ARM) by a yuko (quarter-point) and a waza-ari
(half-point).
In the second round, O’Neil earned a yuko score off two
penalties committed by Ruslan Kishmakov
(RUS), the reigning European Champion who beat O’Neil in the semifinals of
the German Open in August, but Kishmakov scored three times on O’Neil to win
the match.
Kishmakov lost in the next round to Laszlo Burjan (HUN), eliminating O’Neil.
Competition continues on Saturday with the men’s 73kg and
81kg divisions and the women’s 63kg and 70kg divisions.
Pan American Games Champion Ryan Reser (
Colorado Springs
,
Colo.
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at the Olympic
Training
Center
/ 73kg) won a silver medal
during his last trip to
Rotterdam
in 2006 when the city hosted an A-Level World Cup. Reser’s division includes a first-round match
against Christophe Stangl (AUT) who
placed third at the Moscow Super World Cup in May. A win would set Reser against either Kiyoshi Uematsu (ESP) who beat Reser in
the second round of the 2005 World Championships en route to winning bronze or Marco Maddaloni (ITA) who beat Reser in
the finals of the Swiss Open in April. Also in Reser’s pool are Dirk Van
Tichelt (BEL) who beat Reser at the 2006 Belgian Open where Reser finished
third and Henry Schoeman (NED), the
2005 Worlds fifth-place finisher who Reser beat last year in
Rotterdam
. Akos Braun (HUN), the 2005
World Champion, will be a player to watch on the bottom of the draw.
Five-time Pan Am medalist Aaron Cohen (
Buffalo Grove
,
Ill.
/ NYAC / Cohen’s Judo) will
compete against Levan Tsiklauri (GEO) who
won the German Open, the Worlds tune-up event, in August. The winner of that match will likely fight Tomislav Marijanovic (CRO) who placed
seventh at the Worlds two weeks ago. Also in Cohen’s pool is Anthony
Fritsch (FRA) who beat Cohen at the German Open in August. In the bottom of the bracket, watch out for Diogo Lima (POR) who placed third at
the Birmingham World Cup last week.
Marti Malloy (
San Jose
,
Calif.
/ USA
Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University) moved up to 63kg
earlier this year and had some tough international matches to start, but came
into her own at the World Championships where she earned the second-best finish
for Team USA, placing ninth with a 3-2 record. Malloy is back on the mat again as one of only two players who didn’t
get a first-round bye when she competes against Katrien Verheeke (BEL), a five-time World Cup medalist. The winner fights Margo Wetzer (GER), the 2006 European U-23 Champion. Wins
in these first two matches are necessary for Malloy as the third round is
expected to be against 2004 Olympic silver medalist Claudia Heill (AUT) who beat Malloy at the German Open in August.
Complete results for Friday’s competition are as follows:
Men’s 60kg
1. Maxim Korotun (UKR)
2. James Millar (GBR)
3. Leon Borgsteede (NED)
3. Georgiy Zantarava (UKR)
5. Laszlo Burian (HUN)
5. Sjoerd Diemel (NED)
7. Evgeny Kudyakov (RUS)
7. Ruslan Kishmakov (RUS)
Also Competed: Josh O’Neil
(
Colorado Springs
,
Colo.
/
USA
Judo National Training
Site at the Olympic
Training
Center
), 1-1
Men’s 66kg
1. Alim Gadanov (RUS)
2. Francesco Faraldo (ITA)
3. Ramil Gasimov (AZE)
3. Tariel Zintiridis (GRE)
5. Adrian Kulisch (GER)
5. Revazi Zintiridis (GRE)
7. Oscar Penas (ESP)
7. Marcel Trudov (MDA)
Women’s 48kg
1. Ludmila Bogdanova (RUS)
2. Eva Csernoviczky (HUN)
3. Ana Hormigo (POR)
3. Olga Sukha (UKR)
5. Lioudmila Lusnikova (UKR)
5. ROni Schwarcz (ISR)
7. Tatyana Simantov (ISR)
7. Valentina Moscatt (ITA)
Women’s 52kg
1. Audrey La Rizza (FRA)
2. Ana Carrascosa (ESP)
3. Ilse Heylen (BEL)
3. Jaana Sundberg (FIN)
5. Sophie Johnstone (GBR)
5. Aynur Samat (TUR)
7. Fabiane Hukuda-Strubreiter (AUT)
7. Anna Davvdchenko (RUS)
Women’s 57kg
1. Yvonne Boenisch (GER)
2. Marlen Hein (GER)
3. Inga Golaszweska-Kolodziej (POL)
3. Valerie Gotay (
Harlingen
,
Texas
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at
Harlingen
)
5. Deborah Gravenstijn (NED)
5. Kifayat Gasimova (AZE)
7. Dani Libosan (NED)
7. Fanny Riaboff (FRA) |
