It seems fitting that on the final day of the 2022 Tel Aviv Grand Slam, it should be Ponte who takes us through the technical analysis of the day. His opinion is more than relevant, it is enveloped in drive and vision and a pure love for the sport and it’s athletes.
“The organisation is really good. One of the important things for us is the crowd, the people who came to see judo. For Israelis it is one of their biggest sports, very popular after football and basketball. The proof is that they come and fill the arena."
"For judo, we are in the beginning, a new beginning. We have to do even more than we did until now. We start properly in June with the Olympic qualification and we must win more than we have at the beginning of this year. We need to be in the top 8 for the event seedings. With a gold medal and several opportunities to win bronzes, it has been good in Tel Aviv but we will keep working for better, always.
The government gave us a budget to assist with running the event and they are like partners to us, far closer to us than we could expect for a government. It is very welcome and special and we are happy to share our judo achievements with the country as a whole.”
Away from the organisation Ponte is also always ready to discuss the judo itself.
“I saw some fighters, young ones, coming through well but today I really enjoyed watching Korrel (NED), who fought so well against Peter Paltchik. Peter is coming back up and maybe not at his perfect attacking best, waiting a bit, but this will be worked on. Despite his loss to Korrel he has had fantastic support. Our crowd have been rewarded with domestic medals every day."
"The refereeing is good and is benefitting from a high going quality review process. Sometimes we see things we think aren’t quite right but with the replays we see that they are pretty much correct all the time.
I thought it was great to see Majdov’s (SRB) excellent judo today, beating strong opposition. He looked on good form.”
Majdov and Korrel were just two names picked out by Ponte, but there were so many positive examples today. Rakhimov (TJK) and Kompaniez (ISR) were indicative of some of the great judo on display. In the +100kg category these two, in the second round, were both strong and upright, constantly looking for positive movement. The Tajik judoka was particularly strong, preparing attacks with a variety of footwork, usually led with the left but bringing danger from everywhere. His place in the bronze medal contest was not an accident.
Ponte’s final comment hits home. We know he means it and the public feels it too, “All in all, for us it is not just a tournament, it is a celebration of sport and judo and friendship.”