Team Belgium, composed of 5 judokas, took part in the Grand Prix in Almada, Portugal. The IJF World Judo Tour of 2023 also started with this Grand Prix. Ellen Salens, Amber Ryheul and Sami Chouchi were eliminated in the preliminary rounds. Jeroen Casse and Karel Foubert were referred to the repechages after losing in the quarter finals. They both ended up in seventh place. Referee Heather Loontjens was appointed by the IJF to officiate the matches.
Hereafter, we will briefly review the bouts of our judokas.
Ellen Salens (-48kg/JS Merelbeke)
Round 1: Loss vs. Kurbanay Kurbanova (TKM)
Amber Ryheul (-52kg/Kon. Ieperse JC Neko)
Round 1: bye
Round 2: Loss vs: Aigerim Abilkadirova (KAZ)
Jeroen Casse (-73kg/JC Fudji Yama Boom/Schelle) – 7de plaats
Round 1: Victory vs. Martin Hojak (SLO)
Round 2: Victory vs. Joao Crisostomo (POR)
Round 3: Victory vs. Luka Kapanadze (GEO)
Quarter-Final: Loss vs. Zhansay Smagulov (KAZ)
Repechage: Loss vs. Adil Osmanov (MDA)
Karel Foubert (-90kg/JC Olympia Brugge) – 7de plaats
Round 1: bye
Round 2: Victory vs. Kevin Budain (CMR)
Round 3: Victory vs. Giovani Ferreira (BRA)
Quarter-Final: Loss vs. Darko Brasnjovic (SRB)
Repechage: Loss vs. Roland Goz (HUN)
Sami Chouchi (-90kg/JC La Chênaie)
Round 1: bye
Round 2: Loss vs. Dzhakhongir Madzhidov (TJK)
