Club de Judo Sant Jordi enjoyed a successful weekend on the competition circuit, winning four medals at the Spanish Children’s Super Cup in Cádiz while Ibiza and Formentera athletes also secured several podium finishes at the Balearic Absolute Judo Championship in Mallorca.
The national competition took place on Saturday, 17 October, at the Ciudad de Cádiz Sports Complex. Five Sant Jordi judokas and one coach travelled to Andalusia for the event, the third round of the season’s Spanish Cup circuit for younger competitors.
The weekend’s results continued on Sunday at the Balearic Absolute Championship in Sineu, where athletes representing clubs from the Pitiusas won regional titles and additional medals.
Four Medals for Sant Jordi at the Spanish Super Cup
The Sant Jordi team returned from Cádiz with two silver medals, two bronze medals and a seventh-place finish.
Elena Menéndez secured silver in the under-44 kg category after progressing through the competition with victories over Nicole Fernández, Lucía Morera and Leire Castro. She reached the final but was defeated by Andalusian judoka Valeria Jiménez.
Carla Pérez won the second silver medal in under-57 kg after a difficult start. She was disqualified in her opening bout after accumulating three penalties, despite reportedly leading by waza-ari with 17 seconds remaining. She recovered in the repechage, defeating Paola Pérez and Carolina Delgado to finish second overall.
The club’s two bronze medals came in under-52 kg.
Alma García recovered from an opening defeat to Catherina Stroeveci, winning repechage bouts against Sandra Rodríguez and Stroeveci before beating Ángela de la Esperanza de la Cruz in the bronze-medal contest.
Martina Gutiérrez also reached the podium. After winning her opening bout against Carmen Olivero and losing in the quarter-finals to Blanca Heras, she defeated Ariadna Aguilar in the repechage and then beat Yolanda Pérez to claim bronze.
Joana Jiménez completed the Sant Jordi results with seventh place in under-48 kg. She won her opening contest against Alma Arbelo, lost in the quarter-finals to eventual champion Julia López, defeated Shaila Escalante in the repechage and then fell short in the bout for a place in the bronze-medal contest.
Ibiza and Formentera Win Regional Titles in Mallorca
The competition programme continued on Sunday, 18 October, with the Balearic Absolute Judo Championship in Sineu, Mallorca. Athletes from Ibiza and Formentera added further success across the women’s and men’s categories.
In the women’s competition, Tanit Mercier of Dojo Ibiza won the Balearic title in under-48 kg, while Adriana Ferrer of Club de Judo Sant Jordi claimed the under-70 kg title.
Sant Jordi also collected two women’s silver medals. Aisha Ferrer finished second in under-57 kg, and Carla Torres took silver in under-63 kg.
The men’s categories brought additional podium finishes for the island clubs.
David Palerm of Sant Jordi won silver in under-60 kg. Clubmate José Jiménez finished fifth in under-66 kg, while Víctor González of Dojo Ibiza also placed fifth, in under-73 kg.
Sant Jordi added two bronze medals through Raúl Roig in under-81 kg and Bruno Odera in under-90 kg.
Antonio Fernández of Dojo Ibiza completed the medal haul with silver in the men’s over-100 kg category, finishing as Balearic runner-up.
Next Stop: Spanish Absolute Championship Qualifier in Castellón
The next major challenge for the island’s senior judokas is the sector qualifying competition for the Spanish Absolute Championship, scheduled for 31 October in Castellón.
Dina Hamri, competing in under-48 kg, and Adriana Ferrer, in under-70 kg, will represent Club de Judo Sant Jordi at the qualifying event as they seek places in the national championship finals.
The weekend’s results provide a positive start to the autumn competition period for the Pitiusas, with medals at national level in Cádiz and several regional titles and podium finishes in Mallorca.
From youth competitors progressing through the Spanish Cup circuit to experienced athletes challenging for Balearic honours, the performances underline the breadth of competitive judo across Ibiza and Formentera.