Moroccan judo champs to begin competition in Beijing

08/08/2008

The Moroccan judo team will begin their quest for medals in the Beijing Olympic Games on Saturday. The team has four athletes competing, each in different weight classes.

By Mawassi Lahcen for Magharebia in Casablanca – 08/08/08

[Mawassi Lahcen] Moroccan judokas Mohammed Assri (left) and Youness Ahmadi (upper left corner) will face their opponents in Beijing on August 13th.

Morocco is pinning great hopes on Judo champs Younes Ahmadi, 31, Safouane Attaf, 24, Mohammad Assri, 32, and Rachid Raguig, 28, to win medals in the Beijing Olympics. Ahmadi and Attaf are expected to compete on Saturday (August 9th) at noon in the Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium. Raguig's first match is Sunday, and Assri will follow on August 13th.

According to last night's coin flip, Ahmadi will square off against Austrian Ludwig Paischer in the 60-kg preliminary. Paischer is the reigning European champion after his victory in Lisbon in April, and he also won the World Cup in Hamburg in February. Ahmadi remains confident, however; he ranked first in his last three championships, including the African Championship in Agadir on May 18th.

Ahmadi, who was disqualified at the start of Olympic competition in Athens, says things are different today. He is now more mature and better prepared for the challenge than he was four years ago.

"The main reasons behind my failure in Athens," he said, "were the weak preparation, coaching and resources made available to me then".

"It was, however, a beneficial experience for me," Ahmadi continued. "This time, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National Judo Federation have provided us with the best conditions possible to help us qualify for the competition [and] to win. Therefore, I am really reassured and I have set my eyes on the gold medal."

This will be the first Olympic appearance for the rest of the Moroccan judo team.

According to the Beijing schedule, Safouane Attaf is expected to face Russia's Alibek Bashkaev in the 81-kg qualifiers. Attaf finished fifth in the 81 Kg competitions in the Super World Championship held in Paris last February, where Bashkaev clinched the title.

Attaf also won the Youth Cup for 90 kg in Laval, France in February, before winning the African Judo championships at 81 kg in Agadir.

Rachid Raguig will compete against Frenchman Benjamin Darbelet in the 66-kg competition on August 10th and Mohammad Assri will face Amar Benikhlef of Algeria on August 13th in the 90-kg class.

According to Jamal El Arabi, technical director of the Moroccan national team, this year's Olympic team is different from previous years. "Our previous efforts were merely symbolic. Our preparations were not up to the level of the global event. This year we chose to participate with quality. We set the medal as our objective," he said.

El Arabi said the Moroccan team has spent the past year in preparation. "Initially, we selected the athletes with the best abilities," he said. "Then, we kicked off intensive training inside and outside Morocco, ending in a training camp in Japan so as to introduce players to the Asian environment and the different time zone."

"We are expecting to reap the fruit of the efforts we exerted in preparation for the competition," he said.