My best fight / Eleni Chatziliadou : « I promised it to my father as a little child »…
Play a world final against the running World champion, moreover a Japanese, marks you for life, even more if you win it. Eleni Chatziliadou lived this extraordinary moment in Madrid, in 2018. In the +68 kg final, the Greek was opposed to Ayumi Uekusa. How did she approach her final ? How did she feel... She tells us about it...
By Ludovic Mauchien
Photo : Kphotos
My best fight / Elisa Au : « I was shorter than her so I could go down low »
Some tough and memorable fights, the 3-times World champion has known quite a few. Engaged in +60 kg and Open divisions, the US fighter was one of the smallest and tiniest (61 kg) of these categories. So what ? World champion in 2002, Elisa Au will win her two other world titles in 2004 in Monterrey (Mexico). But she had to beat France’s Laurence Fischer in the ½ final… She ended the fight with a bloody nose, in extra time (En Sho Sen)…
Par Ludovic Mauchien
Photos : Denis Boulanger
My best fight / Ali Elsawy : « I proved to myself I could do it for the Olympics »
The two-time African champion (2018, 2019) and the -67 kg World n°2, Ali Elsawy, often delivers spectacular and indecisive fights, so much that he struggled to choose his « best fight ». The Egyptian has finally opted for his fight last year in Shanghai against the running World champion, Steven Da Costa.
By Ludovic Mauchien
Photo : Kphotos
WKF / The 2021 calendar without Paris
The WKF has just published the provisional competition calendar for the year 2021. It begins in February. The Paris Open is therefore not listed in official WKF events. Three Premier League (Lisbon in February, Baku in March and especially Rabat, qualifier for Tokyo in April) and three continental championships are scheduled before the Olympic qualifying tournament in Paris (June 11-13) and, of course, the Olympics (August 5-7). Two other Premier League are scheduled in Tashkent in September and Moscow in October ahead of the Worlds in Dubai (November 16-21).
By Ludovic Mauchien
Photo : Kphotos
My best fight / Ivan Kvesic : « I decided to do a fake step forward… »
The reigning -84 kg World champion was very disappointed to win his world gold medal without playing the final in Madrid in 2018. He looked forward to fight Ukraine’s Chobotar again. It happened a few months later. He chose it as his best fight. He was led and...
By Ludovic Mauchien
Photo : Kphotos
My Best Fight / Alizée Agier : « I stay focus on my opponent, not on the time »
World champion in 2014, French n°1 in -68kg for several years, Alizée Agier is today one of the pillars of the French team. In the race for Tokyo 2021, she looks back on her world final in Bremen in 2014 against Norway’s Gitte Brunstad for her Best Fight.
By Florian Fournier / Photos : Kphotos