Marburg – Young judokas from the 1st Fulda Judo Club showcased impressive skill at the Hessian Individual Championships in Marburg last weekend, securing a total of eight medals and qualifying for the Southwest German Individual Championship in Wörrstadt, Rhineland-Palatinate.
Hesse Judo Championships: Fulda Club Claims Eight Medals
The 1st Fulda Judo Club’s athletes demonstrated exceptional talent, earning eight medals at the recent Hessian Individual Championships.
- Michelle Müller, 16, achieved gold in the U21 category and silver in the U18 category.
- Thore Menges took silver in the U15 age group.
- Ivan Fedorenko, Maximilian Michel, and Rabea Hohmann each earned a silver medal in the U18 and U21 divisions.
- Lea Rudolphi and Ben Hartmann secured bronze medals in the U18 competition.
Sixteen-year-old Michelle Müller had a particularly successful weekend. Competing in the U18 (-57 kilograms) division on Saturday, she advanced to the final after overcoming Sophia Nebhut (JC Wiesbaden), Kayra Odabas (TSG Nordwest), and Lena Adamietz (JC Eltz). Despite a close match, Müller was narrowly defeated by Franziska Schiemann from Kim Chi Wiesbaden with a “Yuko” rating, earning her a silver medal. Müller then excelled on Sunday in the U21 age group, winning the -57 kilogram weight class. As the youngest competitor in her category, she swiftly defeated Katharina Riehl (Turngemeinde Hochheim) with an armbar and Johanna Wint (Tamanegi Griesheim) with a deep Seoi-Nage, claiming the Hessen championship title.
Thore Menges also secured a silver medal in the U15 age group (-43 kilograms). He progressed to the final with victories over Aleandro Calciano (Samurai Offenbach), Gabriel Taranenko (Homburger Turngemeinde), and Davor Brandic Espinosa (Kim Chi Wiesbaden), but ultimately lost to Daniel Gupalo (Kim Chi Wiesbaden) after a hard-fought battle. Ivan Fedorenko (-60 kilograms) and Maximilian Michel (-66 kilograms) both reached the finals in the U18 group, only to be defeated. Fedorenko received a bye into the next round and then defeated Aaron Rottmann (Blau-Gelb Marburg) and Felix Lammel (JC Elz) before losing to Loris Dutenhöfer (Kim Chi Wiesbaden). Michel won against Alexander Abdratschew (Homburger Turngemeinde) and Mikail Yilmaz (Grün-Weis Kassel). He faced his teammate, Max Schlaudraff, in the semi-finals, sending Schlaudraff to the consolation round, before falling to title favorite Viktor Markov in the final.
Rabea Hohmann also earned a silver medal in the U21 age group (-63 kilograms). The round-robin format saw Hohmann defeated only by Luisa Stock (Homburg gymnastics community), while she secured clear victories against Juliane Benz (SG Egelsbach), Melina Hamidovic (Tamanegi Griesheim), and Marla Holst (JC Wiesbaden). Bronze medals were awarded to Lea Rudolphi and Ben Hartmann (-55 kilograms) in the U18 division, each winning a fight to reach the podium.
Several athletes achieved strong fifth-place finishes: Max Schlaudraff (-66 kilograms, two wins), Antoni Regula (-66 kilograms, two wins), Michal Szymanski (-81 kilograms, one win) in the U18 age group, and Julius Michel (-37 kilograms, two wins) and Timo Teuber (-60 kilograms, two wins) in the U15 age group. Kajetan Regula and Urata Troni (both U15) also competed.
Coach Mike Thiel praised his team’s progress, stating, “Everyone has shown strong development in the last few months. Some fights were very narrowly lost due to small mistakes that now need to be eliminated.” The club expressed its satisfaction with the judoka’s performance and wished the qualifying athletes good luck at the Southwest German Individual Championships next weekend.
