Joanne van Lieshout won the bronze medal on Wednesday in her World Cup debut in Doha. The twenty-year-old Dutchman was too strong for Mexico’s Prisca Awiti Alcaraz in the medal race in the up to 63 kilograms category. Earlier in the day, Van Lieshout was hampered against the world number one.
In the bronze match, Van Lieshout easily beat Awiti Alcaraz, ranked 23 in the world. After more than three minutes, the Netherlands won by ippon.
Van Lieshout has started well by advancing to the second round at the expense of Cindy Mera from Colombia. There she met one of the favorites for the title with the leader of the world ranking Lucy Renshall, but she was not inferior to England. In the gold score, Renshall tapped after locking arms.
In the third round, Van Lieshout was too strong for Japan’s Miku Takaichi, who is eight places higher in the world rankings (13 to 21), thanks to waza-ari. Wahyu judo then qualified for the semifinals by putting Szofi Özbas from Hungary on his feet.
Andreja Leski of Slovenia, as the world number twelve, was too strong for a place in the final. In a gold score, the game is decided by waza-ari.
With his sensational series in Doha, Van Lieshout lived up to expectations. The Brabant woman is a two-time world junior champion and was named Talent of the Year at last year’s NOC*NSF Sports Gala.
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De Wit was knocked out early in Doha
Van Lieshout was still the only Dutch asset on Wednesday. Frank de Wit was stranded in the weight class of up to 81 kilograms in the second round after losing to Austrian Wachid Borchashvili, ranked sixth in the world. The 27-year-old North Hollander has already suffered two regular-time penalties and lost in the gold score at ippon.
In 2021, De Wit finished with a World Cup bronze medal. This is the only medal in the global finals tournament. Judoka became world junior champion in 2015. At the Olympics in Tokyo two years ago, De Wit also did not fight for the podium.
The World Cup in Qatar starts on Sunday, but the Netherlands are in action for the first time on Wednesday. On Thursday there will be another medal chance, as title hopeful Sanne van Dijke (up to 70 kilograms) and former world champion Noël van ‘t End (up to 90 kilograms) will be in action.
It is rare for a Dutch judoka to become a world champion. Van ‘t End is still the last Dutch judoka to win World Cup gold. In 2019 he succeeded Marhinde Verkerk who became world champion in Rotterdam in 2009.
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