Dushanbe (TJK). At the U-21 World Cup in Tajikistan, Mathilda Niemeyer (1. JJJC Hattingen) made it to the final. On the way there she defeats a squad colleague from North Rhine-Westphalia.
For her frequent flying this year alone, Mathilda Niemeyer, top judoka, would have 1. JJJC Hattingenprobably deserves a special bonus. The 18-year-old, who plays for the Wittener Sport-Union Annen in the Bundesliga, recently went to Tajikistan. Just in time for the highlight of the season, the World Championships for the U-21 juniors, the Hattinger presented herself in fantastic form and won the silver medal.
“I’m really proud of that,” said Niemeyer, who was the only DJB athlete to make it to the final in Dushanbe. She was already one of the medal candidates in the weight class up to 78 kilograms. After all, she had previously landed bronze at the European Championships. “My goal beforehand was very clear to win a medal again. The fact that we made it to the final was of course huge,” said Niemeyer, who was supported on site by state coach Frank Urban, among others. SUA club colleague Sirotullo Ikramov took over the interpreting on site. “It was great that he was there. That helped us a lot,” said Niemeyer about the Tajik from the Annen Bundesliga team.
“It’s a real shame that we compete against each other so often. But next year Ronja will switch to the U23.”
Mathilda Niemeyer (18), U21 vice world champion, about the frequent DJB duels with Ronja Buddenkotte from Bottrop
On the mat, however, the woman from Hattingen was completely on her own – but Mathilda Niemeyer has proven many times in the recent past that she can handle it well. “The first fight,” said the 18-year-old about the duel with a young Kyrgyz woman, “was really good to get into.” Her opponent made a mistake, which Niemeyer promptly took advantage of and won early with a lever technique on the ground.
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The second task was much more demanding: “I lost to the Dutch Maria Hanstede at the European Cup in Graz,” Niemeyer remembered. So she first had to process it in her head and detach herself from the negative experience at the time. “I tried to think positively” – which she apparently succeeded brilliantly, because the Hattinger student, who will be finishing her high school diploma next year, won with two clean throwing techniques before the end of the fighting time.
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Early victory against German competitor Ronja Buddenkotte
Mathilda Niemeyer was also the dominant fighter against the Russian Polina Judina (“she was pretty big”), quickly gained an advantage and moved into the semi-finals thanks to two Waza-ari scores. There, of all people, it was against them JC 66 Bottrop fighting national team colleague Eva Ronja Buddenkotte. “It’s really a shame that we compete against each other so often,” said Niemeyer, who had already won the direct duel at the European Championships. The comparisons between these two squad athletes, who are very familiar with each other, usually turn into epic battles – in Dushanbe, however, the encounter ended before the “golden score”. Buddenkotte received three warnings and was therefore disqualified. “I’m happy for her that she won bronze in the small final,” said Niemeyer about the 19-year-old from Schermbeck, with whom she had shared a hotel room so often on tournament trips.
The Hattinger went straight to the final in the packed Kasri Arena. There she was confronted by the Colombian Brenda Olaya. “In the first few minutes I stuck to my guns and it went really well,” remembers the Bundesliga fighter. When she put the South American in a stranglehold, it looked like Mathilda Niemeyer would win the title. “Two or three seconds longer – then I would have won.” But the mat leader interrupted, much to the delight of Olaya, who didn’t look good even with two ura-nage techniques from the Germans. But there were no ratings for it. Instead, the Hattinger lost her strength a little in the end, the Colombian capitalized on it and won with a rather unspectacular throw. “I somehow ran into it and then fell flat,” said Niemeyer.
Impressive performance at the World Cup: Mathilda Niemeyer (right) from Bundesliga club SU Annen landed on the podium again in Dushanbe after third place at the U-21 European Championships and became runner-up for the first time. © FUNKE Photo Services | Walter Fischer
Despite the initial anger over the possible missed title opportunity, she was ultimately happy to have won silver at the World Championships. The woman from Hattingen was no longer used in the team competition – “we were already decisively down 4-0 against Japan before I should have fought.” Silver and bronze for the DJB in the 78 kg class, that was a proud result especially from the perspective of the NRW state association.
The next goals for Mathilda Niemeyer? “At least I won’t be fighting for the German championship, that would be in two weeks. Maybe I’ll be there at the U-23 European Championships in November,” she says. “Otherwise, I’m now concentrating entirely on getting my high school diploma.” At least there’s something beyond the judo mat.
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2024-10-16 13:22:00