Judoka Arik Ze'evi conquers Europe

by Frankie Sachs
Jerusalem Post
May 16, 2004 

Arik Ze'evi successfully defended his European Judo Championship and 
took home the title for the third time in four years with a win via 
ippon over former Olympic gold medalist Antal Kovacs of Hungary in 
the final on Sunday in Bucharest, Romania. 

Ze'evi, who competes in the under-100 kg division, sent a message 
that he is in top form just three months before the Olympic Games 
in Athens, where he plans to improve on his fifth place finish at 
Sydney in 2000. 

Also on Sunday, Andrian Kordon (+100 kg) came in seventh place while 
the other Israeli in action, Lavi Tamir (-90 kg), finished out of 
the rankings after winning one and losing two bouts. 

On Saturday, Yoel Razvozov won a silver medal in the under-73 kg 
division. 

After defeating Kovacs in the final, Ze'evi told Channel 2, 
"The third European title is the sweetest because I know that no 
other Israeli athlete, in any sport, has accomplished such a feat 
and also because it was accompanied by several difficulties. 

"I barely reached the final... and I wasn t mentally prepared to 
go all the way. My mind was already on Olympic preparations," 
he said. "Only in the past day was I able to make the switch. 
Now there are three months until Athens and I hope to repeat the 
achievement." 

Ze'evi received a first-round bye before beating Georgia s Iveri 
Jukerauli via ippon in 1:13. He then won Pool B and advanced to 
the semifinal round by outscoring Italian Michele Monti with two 
waza-aris in 2:15. 

Reigning world runner-up Ghislain Lemaire proved to be Ze'evi's 
most challenging opponent. The bout went the full five minutes, 
during which the Israeli suffered a cut above his right eye, 
which required treatment. Afterwards, competing with a bandage 
around his head, Ze'evi managed to earn a koka that would prove 
to be the deciding point. 

Against the veteran Hungarian in the final, Ze'evi was always on 
the offensive and earned points via a koka and a yuko before 
getting a hold of Kovacs and dropping him onto his behind. 

Kordon lost in the bout before the bronze medal. He was leading 
for most of his opening match with eventual fifth place finisher 
Paolo Bianchessi of Italy, but was undone by an ippon after 2:30 
minutes. 

The largest Israeli judoka then dropped Poland's Gregorz Eitel 
and Spain's Aytami Ruano both in under two minutes in the 
repechage round. But in his next bout, Kordon again led on 
points after scoring a shido, a waza-ari, and a yuko to Dennis 
Van der Geest's yuko, but his Dutch opponent scored an ippon with 
just 24 seconds left to advance to the bronze medal bout. 

In recent years, Israel has developed into a European power in judo. 
The Israeli delegation to the Olympics will consist of five judokas, 
the most in Israel's history. In addition to Ze'evi and Razvozov, 
Udi Vaks, Gal Yekutiel, and Michal Feinblatt will all compete in 
Athens.