(Colorado
Springs, Colo.) – The U.S. men racked up a number of key wins at one of the
largest Men's Belgian Open tournaments on record Saturday in Vise, but failed to
place in the top five.2007 MEN'S BELGIAN OPEN - 3rd February Day 1
Click through to Men Day 2 and Women
February 3, 2007
Contact: Nicole Jomantas, 719.271.9937 (cell)
JUDO: Men’s Belgian Open Results - from a US perspective
(Colorado
Springs, Colo.) – The U.S. men racked up a number of key wins at one of the
largest Men's Belgian Open tournaments on record Saturday in Vise, but failed to
place in the top five.
Ryan Reser (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Olympic Training Center USA Judo National Training Site / 73kg - left with a silver medal from the 2006 Rotterdam World Cup) won four matches and lost two in the largest division of the day.
In a sport where even the World Championships frequently top out at 65 competitors in a large division, 73kg had 91 athletes. The same was true across all divisions as most had upwards of 60 men in a single draw.
Reser’s U.S. 73kg compatriots also picked up several wins a piece as Chuck Jefferson (San Jose, Calif. / San Jose State) and Radu Brestyan (Wakefield, Mass. / Team FORCE) each posted 3-2 records with one of Brestyan’s losses coming to the eventual champion, Salamu Mezhidov (RUS), the #4-ranked player in the world.
Nick Kossor (Glenville, N.Y. / Jason Morris Judo Center) had his best European showing to date, winning three matches and losing two in the 60kg division.
Daniel McCormick (Wakefield, Mass. / Team FORCE
/ +100kg) had the most difficult opening match for an American,
drawing
Tamerlan Tmenov (RUS) (Left at the 2003 Dusseldorf Europeans with the
heayweight gold medal), the 2004 Olympic silver medalist and the current
third ranked player in the world.
Tmenov threw McCormick for ippon (instant win)
after which McCormick lost in his first repechage
round to finish 0-2 overall.
Bobby Lee (Coral Springs, Fla. / North Miami USA Judo National Training Site / 73kg), Landry Ambouroue (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Olympic Training Center USA Judo National Training Site / 90kg) and Kirk Hoffmann (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Olympic Training Center USA Judo National Training Site / +100kg - right with his British Open gold medal) also competed, but each lost in the first round and was not pulled through to the repechage.
Competition continues tomorrow in the 66kg, 81kg and 100kg divisions.
For more information, contact Nicole Jomantas, USA Judo Director of Communications and Media Relations, Nicole.Jomantas@usajudo.us.