Present at the draw to represent the International Judo Federation were Mr Mohamed Meridja, IJF Education and Coaching Director, Head Referee Director Mr Florin Daniel Lascau and Mr Michael Tamura, IJF Sport Director. For the Portuguese Judo Federation, their President, Mr Sergio Pina, Vice-President, Mr Nuno Carvalho and Mr Manuel Pinto, PJF Treasurer were in attendance.
Mr Merijda opened proceedings, "Dear President, dear judo friends, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the International Judo Federation and our President Mr Marius Vizer, I am very pleased to welcome you to the Junior World Championships 2023, in Odivelas, Portugal. Mr Vizer would like to convey his best greetings to all organisers and participants. We wish the Portugal Judo Federation good luck and we assure them of our full support. I wish all guests and the judo family a good time in Portugal. Thank you."
PJF President Mr Sergio Pina then continued, "Good afternoon. The Portuguese Judo Federation welcomes the judo family to Portugal for the Junior World Championships Odivelas 2023. We would like to say thank you for all the support given by the International Judo Federation, the Portuguese Institute of Sports and Youth, Odivelas City Council, and all our partners. I would like to express all my appreciation to the delegations that came to these world championships: athletes, coaches, referees and managers. I wish a lot of success to everyone and may the best junior judoka win. Thank you very much."
IJF Sport Director, Mr Michael Tamura, then ran the draw procedure with the help of the IJF IT Team, showing the seeded athletes, the statistics for the registered judoka and the draw itself, "Dear judo family, thank you to Mr Pina and the Portuguese Judo Federation for their kind hospitality. We know it will be a great event here in Portugal. On behalf of the IJF Sport Commission, we would like to wish all the coaches, athletes and national federations the best of luck here at the World Junior Judo Championships."
With this part of the necessary formalities completed smoothly, JudoTV.com is now being updated with all the contest orders, spotlight profiles and prediction leagues, ready for judo fans everywhere to stay up to date with the action.
The next important meeting was that of the referees, with their tatami-based education session, as at all World Judo Tour events. During the welcome and introduction, Head Referee Director, Florin Daniel Lascau made the position of the referees very clear, “It is important to understand our responsibility; every single contest and every win counts. Every score is important. Every shido and situation has consequences. We must consider the word ‘refereeing’ rather than thinking about referees and we must ensure the right balance in our work. Everyone involved in judo has a knowledge of the rules and refereeing is a part of all of our judo lives.” The significance of the work of the referees is never underestimated!
The details are now being considered by every member of the judo family, from the referees to organisers and athletes to media, ready to take part in the flagship event of the junior calendar.
The individual competition schedule is as follows:
Wednesday 4th October: 9:00
Preliminaries on 3 tatamis
Thursday 5th October: 10:00
Preliminaries on 3 tatamis
Friday 6th October: 10:30
Preliminaries on 3 tatamis
Saturday 7th October: 11:00
Preliminaries on 3 tatamis
The Mixed Teams competition schedule is as follows:
Sunday 8 October: 11:30
Preliminaries on 3 tatamis
Final Block:
Everyday the final block begins at 16:00 and on Thursday 5th October the opening ceremony will take place at 15:15.