Romanian judokas Corina Caprioriu and Andreea Chitu won bronze medals on Wednesday evening at the World Judo Championships in Paris, Mediafax informs.
Caprioriu (57-kg category) won bronze after she defeated America’s Marti Malloy through ippon. Corina Caprioriu finished the previous World Championships on 5th place.
Andreea Chitu (52-kg category) defeated France’s Priscilla Gneto. The Romanian judoka, coached by Florin Bercean, had to face not only her opponent but also the hostile atmosphere created by the more than 15,000 French fans. Chitu scored decisively through yuko in extra time, winning the game and the bronze medal. Also on Wednesday, two other Romanian judokas were eliminated in preliminary rounds. Adrian Merge (73-kg category), who replaced injured judoka Costel Danculea, was defeated by Brazil’s Bruno Mendonca in round 2, while Romania’s Ramona Enache (52-kg category) was defeated by Russia’s Natalia Kuzyutina in the first round in Group C.
On Tuesday, Romanian Olympic champion Alina Dumitru suffered an injury in the quarterfinals and then forfeited her playoff game against France’s Frederique Jossinet. Dumitru finished the competition on 7th place. Romania’s Vladut Simionescu (+100-kg category) will enter the competition on Saturday, the day before the Championships end. The Romanian delegation’s goal is to win at least one medal and to have a judoka finishing on 5th place.
