Lara Reimann captures European Cadet title U63kg

At the European Cadet Championships top seed Lara Reimann (GER) did not waste any time on her way to victory in the U63kg final against Austrian Michaela Polleres.

The German attacked right away, taking down Polleres to score waza-ari after five seconds. The opponent hardly had time to get up, when Reimann threw her again, earning a second waza-ari, winning the title after just 25 seconds. The result reflected the confidence Reimann had shown all day. “I felt a little pressure coming in as the top seed, but my coaches kept telling me that the season has been going really well and that I just need to trust in what I can do”, the German judoka explained. “I felt fit today. My goal was to win each fight right away, to throw right away. This is what we trained.” Reimann now will move up to the next age category. “This victory motivates me a lot. Last year it didn’t go well at the European Olympic Youth Festival, but when you continue to train you can come back”, she added.

Polleres was excited about her day and the silver medal. “It is incredible. I am pleased with my performance. I could have fought longer in the final, but she (Reimann) surprised me. She knocked me down right away. Now I’m headed for the Youth Olympic Games and I want to give my best there as well. Before I didn’t think I would come so far, but now I saw that I can go far and this is a big motivation for me”, the Austrian said.                   

World Cadet bronze medallist Lubjana Piovesana (GBR) added another bronze medal to her collection when she defeated second seed Renata Lorinc (HUN).                   

Ivana Sunjevic (MNE) earned the other bronze medal over Anastasiia Borysenko (UKR).                   

This category featured 27 athletes.