Now he can be found at the edge of the mat at World Judo Tour events as an IJF Referee Supervisor, a member of the commission established to ensure the finest details are reviewed and rewarded appropriately. His role is to protect the spirit of fair play and to uphold the integrity of judo technique. For day one of the 2023 Tel Aviv Grand Slam, Pino Maddaloni offers his technical analysis.
“Today I have been focussed on -57kg, -60kg and -66kg and it was good judo overall. There were one or two situations of head diving and also just a couple of waki-gatame situations in tachi-waza, but there weren’t many golden score contests, with most rounds finishing with positive scores.
In this tournament I saw the athletes change their spirit somewhat, adjusting to meet the updated rules. This is pushing athletes in a good way.
Aghayev (AZE) and Mkheidze (FRA) at -60kg, for example, both showed good spirit throughout the day and their semi-final had every element we could want from a high level match.
The big surprise and a very welcome one was seeing such a strong performance from Josh Katz (AUS), a first time in the final block of a World Judo Tour event. He won 3 continental open medals last year and also won bronze at the PanAmerican-Oceania Championships but this is a big step up.
Katz never stopped trying to do the right things. He has great conditioning and we can see the potential in him. He brought energy and enthusiasm and also honesty. I believe in possibilities for him because the attitude is so good. He wasn’t scared to bring his best effort. He met strong athletes with high IJF ranking, including Chlhvimiani (GEO) whom he beat tactically, 3 penalties against none. That’s not an easy contest for anyone; he did well.
In the past I have seen some athletes not accepting refereeing decisions but here I saw all respecting the results. This part of our sport’s spirit is so important. Even when we are frustrated or feeling defeated, we must still have self-control and respect the others around us. This attitude was good today, almost exclusively!
In the -57kg category the best performance today has been from Deguchi (CAN). She’s been outstanding throughout the day, with physical control, a robust mindset and very clean technique. Her timing is impeccable, really, today she was amazing to watch, a real pleasure.
I always found restarting after the break, in the final block, a moment which need special management. I can remember the need to stay in the sports hall to ensure I felt the same way going into the final. If I went outside maybe something would change. For the two Canadian women, teammates, this moment will have been important, perhaps their mental preparation is even the most important thing leading into a final such as this. It’s been more difficult to manage when your teammate is standing next to you trying to prepare to beat you, very hard. They both arrived ready and that shows that something is going well in the Canadian system.”
There is always a lot to consider from a full day of high level judo. These are sports halls full of experience and expertise and the fine lines between winning and losing are often microscopic. To decode them and display them as Pino Maddaloni does is a special skill.
Tomorrow it’s the turn of the middleweights, 4 new categories to enjoy and 4 new Tel Aviv Grand Slam champions to discovery. Follow all the action via life.ijf.org.