Sarah-Léonie Cysique and Joan-Benjamin Gaba, the two Frenchmen of the day, failed to win a medal at the World Judo Championships in Doha on Tuesday.
With two medals in two days for the French women’s delegation at the world judo championships in Doha, the series ended on Tuesday. Sarah-Léonie Cysique finished seventh in the -57kg category. The 2021 Olympic vice-champion and 2022 European vice-champion started her competition well, with a victory against the Cuban Arnaes Odelin Garcia (whom she was facing for the first time) with a golden score after 5’09 of combat, then another against the German Pauline Starke (2-2 in the confrontations before this Tuesday) after a new fight concluded with the golden score, after 5’08. Then it was the Georgian Eteri Liparteliani, European bronze medalist last year, who was beaten for the sixth time out of six by Cysique, after 5’16 of combat and a new golden score.
But in the quarter-finals, the 24-year-old Frenchwoman was stopped by the Canadian 2019 world champion Christa Deguchi, victorious on ippon after 2’47 of the fight, and who therefore beat Cysique for the fourth time out of five. The Frenchwoman therefore had to compete in the repechages to hope to win the bronze medal. But against another Canadian, Jessica Klimkait, world champion and Olympic bronze medalist in 2021, she was beaten for the sixth time in eight fights, again with the golden score (5’48) to conclude a trying day. No medal therefore for the native of Sarcelles.
Gaba beaten in the second round
On the men’s side, the -73kg category was on the tatami on Tuesday, with only one French representative, Joan-Benjamin Gaba. A member of the team that won silver in the team event at the 2021 Worlds in Budapest, the 22-year-old judoka this time took part in the individual event, and he was eliminated in the second round. After having beaten the Romanian Alexandru Raicu, whom he was facing for the first time, to the golden score after 5’10 of combat, he fell against the Uzbek Obidkhon Nomonov (who thus beat him for the third time in three confrontations), during a new fight which ended with the golden score, after 5’04.
Since Nomonov was then eliminated in the quarterfinals, Gaba could not play in the repechage tournament. On Wednesday, the French will try to do better, with Alpha Oumar Djalo at -81kg and especially Clarisse Agbegnenou at -63kg, who dreams of a first Marseillaise since her triumph at the Tokyo Olympics.