Judokas from Alvor become National Youth Champions

The UFAD – Judo Alvor club participated in the 2016 National Youth Championship with seven judokas and won six medals. […]

The UFAD team that competed in the National Championship - photo: UFAD- Judo Alvor
The UFAD team that competed in the National Championship – photo: UFAD- Judo Alvor

The UFAD – Judo Alvor club participated in the 2016 National Youth Championship with seven judokas and won six medals. Miguel Nery (-42kg Men) and Maria Prados (-40kg Women) became national champions in the respective categories.

The 2016 National Judo Championship was held at the Multiusos Pavilion in Odivelas, last Saturday, June 11th.

306 athletes participated in the event, representing 103 clubs. UFAD – Judo Alvor was 1st in the sum of medals, ahead of clubs with more history in the modality. "We were confident, but we didn't think it would be so good," admitted coach Cristian Alderete Bernal, to Sul Informação.

The Alvor Judo Club participated in the championship with seven judokas and won two gold medals, two silver and two bronze medals.

The silver medals were won by Gema Gomez (-48kg Women) and Cosmin Pidghirnii (-55Kg Men) and the bronze medals by Teresa Santos (-44Kg Women) and Miguel Colesnic (-73 Men).

Miguel Nery (-42kg Men) achieved the gold medal - photo: Portuguese Judo Federation
Miguel Nery (-42kg Men) achieved the gold medal – photo: Portuguese Judo Federation

In addition to the six medals won, UFAD – Judo Alvor also achieved a 5th place in the -63Kg Women category, through Maria Ulrich. The result shows that this athlete was also in the fight for the podium.

“It was really good. The kids work with great commitment and dedication and are very focused on having good results”, commented coach Cristian Alderete Bernal. “The support of the families and of our physiotherapist, Filipe Costa is very important”, added the coach.

The young Miguel Nery started in judo at the age of 4 and has been training with Cristian for eight years, having now won the first male national title for the Alvor club.

“I've had more girls national champions and we were national champions for teams, in 2013,” adds the coach. Cristian Alderete Bernal has already been Chilean national champion for “several years” and has been in Portugal for almost ten years creating new talent in the Unbreakable Force Associação Desportiva – Judo Alvor.

Maria Prados (Women 40kg) achieved the gold medal - photo: Portuguese Judo Federation
Maria Prados (Women's -40kg) achieved the gold medal – photo: Portuguese Judo Federation

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