The New York Open made its long awaited return to New York Athletic Club
A month ago, the New York Open Championship made its return to the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan after a four year hiatus. The New York Open is an international judo tournament consisting of mixed mens & womens judo teams. This year, the New York Athletic Club hosted six international judo teams; United States of America, Germany, Poland, France, Israel, and Great Britain. Each team consisted of three women and three men for a total of six judoka. Respective categories for the woman were -48kg, -57kg, and -70kg. The weight categories for the men competitors were -73kg, -90kg, and +90kg.
The teams were split into two pools where they would battle for seeding via a three team round robin. Of course, the winners of the round robin were granted the first seed on their side of the pool. The second place finisher then moved over into the opposite pool for taking the second seed while the third place finishers of the round robin were eliminated from the seeded portion of competition.
During the seed competition France and Great Britain faced off with France taking the win to head to the finals. Team USA and Israel had a heated battle with multiple golden scores throughout the matches. It came down to the last match at the -90kg category with Alex Knauf of team USA pulling through with the clutch victory to send USA into the finals against France.
Team USA started out strong in the finals winning the first two matches. Maria Laborde won at -48kg and Jack Yonezuka at -73kg. From there on out, it was all France. France won four straight matches to win the 2023 New York Open. Team USA takes home the silver medal. Israel and Great Britain share the bronze.
It was an amazing day of judo all the way around. The competitors battled each other and showed tremendous sportsmanship and respect for their opponents. Throughout the event, wherever you looked it was easy to spot an Olympic athlete or even two. The New York Athletic Club took time to recognize all of those Olympic athletes who made the effort to support the return of the New York Open.
It was an exciting day of judo at the New York Athletic Club and we are happy to see the return of the New York Open. We are already looking forward to next year's event and hope you are too.
