This age category (-18) is the gateway to high level judo, with the formation of strategy, a winning mindset, athlete-national coach relationships, travel confidence and so much more. Now, with the continental championships all completed, Bosnia and Herzegovina is the location for the 2022 World Championships Cadets, in the heart of Europe.
As always, the draw comes first! With an online broadcast, just as with the World Judo Tour, officials gathered at the Hotel Hills Resort, to ensure the smooth delivery of the contest sheets. The draw began with a short video to introduce the event and also to show the brand new IJF NFTs which are now available online via IJF.org.
Mr Mohamed Meridja, IJF Coaching and Education Director, then opened the show, "Dear President of the Federation, dear Executive Committee members and dear judo family, on behalf of Mr Marius Vizer, I want to welcome you all to Sarajevo warmly. I want to thank the national federation for all their effort and I wish them a lot of success. All the best to our youth, who represent the future of our sport."
Next Dr Branislav Crnogorac, the President of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Judo Federation declared, "Ladies and Gentlemen, athletes, coaches and referees, dear judo family, we are here together to celebrate our cadets. Sarajevo loves people and people love Sarajevo. We can truly say that our city is a sport city. For instance, back in 1984, we organised the winter Olympic Games. More recently in 2019, the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival was held here as well and this is already the second edition of the cadet world championships to take place in Sarajevo.
We are still a young federation and relatively new within the European Judo Union and International Judo Federation family and we are proud of it. Over the past years, we have organised several European events. That is why we are really happy to welcome again the best cadets for this world event.
I want to thank the IJF President, Mr Marius Vizer, for giving us this opportunity again. I really hope that you will all enjoy your stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina and that you will appreciate the good judo. I wish you good luck."
Florin Daniel Lascau underlined the importance of this age category, "The cadets are very important and we will do everything to guarantee that we have good judo over the next days. The safety of all the participants is our utmost priority. I wish good luck to all our young participants."
Almost 500 judoka have arrived in Sarajevo, from 60 nations. What is truly astounding is the presence of every cadet world number one, no exceptions. The majority are from Europe but an anomaly at cadet level is the lack of Japanese opposition through the year and therefore the lack of ranking for the entire Japanese team attending in Bosnia. This will provide some nervousness in the early rounds with the unseeded Japanese slotting into the draw anywhere. Even the world number ones will need to take a deep breath before checking what their competition may bring.
Four weight categories will compete each day, beginning with the lightest groups, and on day 5 the mixed team event will take place, with 15 delegations entered.
The IJF IT team have been constructing a new, updated draw and competition software and this proved to be trialled successfully in Sarajevo, providing a clearly defined view of each name and their opposition, including the blue and white notation to illustrate the starting colour for each judoka.
Among the ones to watch, we see Tara Babulfath (SWE) competing at -48kg. She has competed 8 times internationally this year and 6 of those events earned her gold medals. In fact she hasn’t failed to reach the rostrum at all, including taking the title at the European Cadet Championships and then stepping up to win gold at the Prague Junior European Cup. Her trajectory is no joke and she seems free to throw her way to the final, all being well. If we were to be so bold as to predict who might meet her there, we could guess Miyaki of Japan although the number two seed sits in Miyaki’s quarter, Poulange (FRA), with gold medals from Strasbourg and Poland among her prizes from this year.
The busiest category is the -60kg men’s group, including 36 different countries. With all continents represented and so many unknown newcomers, there will be some big surprises here; it’s a real fact-finding mission and the launchpad for future analysis. When day two is over in Bosnia there will be scurrying throughout the judo world, ready to embrace the self-announced future of global junior judo.
Every category brings something to look forward to and with an emphasis on fair play and education, as well as excellence, this championship must be seen as an imperative step on the way to the elite level.
Let’s go, cadets! Welcome to Bosnia and Herzegovina.