Jorge Fonseca is Portugal’s great ‘trump card’ for the Judo World Cup, which will be held between Thursday and October 13, in Tashkent, where the Portuguese arrives as two-time world champion in -100 kg.
In the capital of Uzbekistan, Jorge Fonseca presents himself with the world titles conquered in Tokyo, in 2019, and in Budapest, last year, this one just before achieving bronze in the same year at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The Portuguese heavyweight is the main name of the entourage of eight Portuguese judokas who travel to Tashkent, this time without Telma Monteiro, four times runner-up in the world, who is recovering from a meniscus injury, operated on in August, and Patrícia Sampaio (- 78 kg), also due to injury.
Telma Monteiro, a silver medalist at the 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2014 World Cups and a bronze medalist in 2005, is part of the small number of active Portuguese judoka who have stood on the World Cup podium.
In addition to Benfica’s judoka, who competes in -57 kg, only Jorge Fonseca (-100 kg), Bárbara Timo, currently in -63 kg, but runner-up in the world in -70 kg in 2019, and Anri Egutidze, currently in -90 kg and bronze at -81 kg in 2021, won medals at Worlds.
The group from Tashkent, led by coaches Ana Hormigo and Pedro Soares, again mixes experience and youth, this time not having a greater representation of the women’s team, especially due to the departure of Joana Ramos, who ended her sports career, and the injuries of Telma Monteiro and Patricia Sampaio.
In men, Jorge Fonseca leads the group that also includes Rodrigo Lopes (-60 kg), João Fernando (-81 kg) and Anri Egutidze (-90 kg), while Catarina Costa (-48 kg), Joana Diogo (-52 kg ), Bárbara Timo (-63 kg) and Rochele Nunes (+78 kg) are present in women.
Egutidze arrives at these World Championships after having changed category, with an increase of -90 kg, as well as Bárbara Timo, who dropped to -63 kg, with the two judokas being the last medalists in World Championships, in addition to Jorge Fonseca.
The Georgian judoka won a bronze medal in -81kg at the World Championships in Budapest in 2021, and Barbara Timo was world runner-up in 2019 in Tokyo, later competing in -70kg.
In Tashkent, another name to keep in mind will be that of Catarina Costa, currently fourth in the world ranking with -48 kg, which gives her the condition of head of the series, and runner-up in Europe, and that of Rochele Nunes (+78 k ), the judoka recently returned to competition after a serious injury.
Rochele Nunes was ‘stopped’ by a meniscus injury in October 2021, at the Grand Slam in Paris, and on her return to the ‘tatami’, in September of this year, she was fifth at the Riccione European Open.
The Tashkent World Cup takes place from Thursday to October 13 at the Humo Arena, with Portugal competing only in the individual weight classes.
The competition is the first major event after the summer ‘crisis’ experienced in sport, when a group of judokas, including Telma Monteiro, disputed the presidency of Jorge Fernandes, forcing a ‘mediation’ of the Olympic Committee of Portugal (COP) and the Secretary of State for Youth and Sports.
In August, seven judokas, five of them from Benfica, namely Rodrigo Lopes, Anri Egutidze, Telma Monteiro, Bárbara Timo and Rochele Nunes, as well as Catarina Costa and Patrícia Sampaio, signed a letter in which they accused the president of the Federation Portuguese Judo of oppression and called for an intervention by the guardianship of the sport.
Source: Observadora
