Team effort by Israel earns bronze at Judo Worlds
What a team effort by Israel’s judokas!
Israel won the mixed team bronze medal at the 2022 World Judo Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on October 13, narrowly beating the Netherlands to secure a place on the podium.
Israeli judoka Guy Gurevitch first lost to Frank de Wit, before Raz Hershko won her bout to equalise for Israel.
Her teammate Peter Paltchik then lost to Michal Korrel, but Israel struck back again when Timna Nelson-Levy defeated Pleuni Cornelisse.
Victories to Ido Levin and Maya Goshen sealed a 4-2 overall win to Israel, and the bronze medal.
Instead of celebrating her bout victory, Goshen helped her opponent, Sanne Vermeer, walk off the mat to receive treatment for a painful injury, in a wonderful example of fair play.
Israel had qualified for the bronze medal decider by beating Uzbekistan 4-2, and then South Korea 4-3 – with Hershko winning the all-important last bout – before losing 1-4 to France.
Japan ended up claiming gold and France winning silver.
Israel’s world championship squad members Hershko, Paltchik and Nelson-Levy had represented Israel in last year’s Tokyo Olympics, helping to win a mixed team bronze medal.
The 2022 judo worlds were originally scheduled to coincide with Yom Kippur, but were pushed to October 6-13 after Moshe Ponte, president of the Israel Judo Association, requested the International Judo Federation delay the competition.
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