Prague is getting ready the European Open this weekend. The UNYP Arena will host the continental level competition on March 5 and 6. More than 500 judoka from more than forty countries are heading to the Czech capital, a good preparation tournament for the European Championships in April in Sofia. National team coach Petr Lacina in convinced of the value of the event.
“It’s a great opportunity to deal with the restrictions at the moment. According to the current starting list, we see that most athletes from many countries reach for the occasion. For Czech competitors, such a competition is a chance to show up at home. In the past, when Krpálek, Petřikov, Ježek filled the hall and the whole national team started, there used to be a great atmosphere and everyone was proud to be able to introduce themselves on the home tatami. In addition, the charge of the home environment, as well as the pressure on the competitor are a great training for mental endurance.
Last year, the Czech team won five medals. What are his ambitions this time?
This year’s medal gain is likely to be thinner. The tournament is very busy and the national team is in a health crisis. We started the year 2022 with a covid and then a series of injuries to most competitors. This did not happen in the previous waves, but after this year there was a situation where absolutely everyone who suffered from covid disease in January sooner or later injured themselves. Some even take ordinary comics and many are quite serious.
Four medalists, led by the golden Lukáš Krpálek, are missing from last year’s team. Who could represent them?
In addition to the outages due to injuries, we are in a situation where our two best women, Věra Zemanová and Renata Zachová, are releasing the home tournament in preparation for the European Championships, so only Olympian David Klammert will enter the narrower national team. After a forced year and a half long break, the talented Honza Svoboda and Markéta Paulusová will present themselves in the competition, both returning to the process after knee surgery. Jaromír Musil would also like to fight for the possibility of starting the European Championship.
When will Olympic Champion Lukáš Krpálek appear on the tatami this year?
Lukáš is not yet in full preparation after a well-deserved break after the Olympic Games. He could most likely race on an IJF Tour in July. Preparations will then lead to the October World Cup.