Team USA Takes Home First Mixed Team Silver Medal at 2019 IBSA Judo & Goalball International Qualifier

Team USA Takes Home First Mixed Team Silver Medal at 2019 IBSA Judo & Goalball International Qualifier

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (July 6, 2019) – Team USA claimed the first-ever mixed team silver medal at the 2019 International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) Judo and Goalball International Qualifier in Fort Wayne, USA, on Friday (5 July) as the event made its debut at an IBSA Judo competition.

Teams from eight countries competed in the historic event, including Paralympic, world and regional medallists in their line-ups. Ukraine advanced past China 4-2 and then Brazil 4-1 to reach the gold medal match against the USA. Brazil claimed Bronze 1 and China took home the second Bronze.

Paralympic bronze medallist Yuliya Halinska (UKR) opened Ukraine’s final contest with a win against Cynthia Page (USA) in the women’s up to 52kg.They then went 2-0 up after up European title holder Davyd Khorava (UKR) beat Ronald Alex Hawthorne (USA) in the men’s up to 66kg. World and Paralympic champion Inna Cherniak (UKR) reached ippon after holding Liana Mutia (USA) down in the women’s up to 63kg. Rufat Mahomedov (UKR) sealed gold for Ukraine with his win over Adnan Gutic (USA) to take the Ukraine to four wins and end the contest.

Team USA were happy to take an historic silver medal at home:

“I think everybody feels good that we were able to get a medal as a team, show that we have some good judo, some good techniques, some strong competitors that are out there to fight,” Goodrich said. “We had some tough matches yesterday, but today we had a good showing so I think we’re very happy with that.”

The mixed team event – which is not currently on the Paralympic programme – marked the end of three days of competition in Fort Wayne. 180 Judoka fought for individual world ranking points towards qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Women’s Goalball
Intense action between teams continues with some spots secured in the quarter finals and others still up for grabs during Saturday’s final day of pool play.

The USA women headline the teams who will advance to Sunday’s quarter finals having so far gone unbeaten in women’s group Y. Their latest victory came with a 9-1 win over Finland at the Turnstone Plassman Athletic Center Fieldhouse.

Canada, Finland, Ukraine and Greece will all play for survival in the tournament on Saturday (6 July).

In women’s group X Israel and China are still tied at the top with 15 points each, with Israel leading on goal difference. With the top four teams from each group securing a quarter-final spot, Australia and Great Britain will also advance.

USA Women’s play again Saturday, 2:00pm at Indiana Tech’s Shaefer Center against Greece.

Men’s Goalball
In the men’s competition China tops men’s pool B, but the USA, Ukraine and South Korea are also through to the quarter-finals.

The USA’s record on Friday featured a 14-5 win over South Korea and a 5-5 draw with Spain.

In men’s pool A, Turkey and reigning Paralympic champions Lithuania also go through. Turkey overcame Argentina 9-5 whilst Lithuania squeezed past Greece 8-5.

The other two quarter final places are firmly up for grabs in the group with a potential four teams – Argentina, Czech Republic, Sweden and Canada all needing wins on the final day of pool play on Saturday (6 July).

Sweden kept their campaign going after successfully protesting the result of their 8-7 loss to Czech Republic. The outcome meant they replayed the last 17.3 seconds of the match. Fatmir Seremeti found the back of the net to end the game 7-7 and hand Sweden one point to keep their hopes in the competition alive.

USA Men’s play again Saturday, 4:30pm at Turnstone’s Plassman Athletic Center Fieldhouse against China.

Goalball competition continues through Tuesday, July 9. Admission to competition venues is free and all competition will be live streamed over a variety of channels thanks to generous support from AWS Foundation. Goalball competition will begin Tuesday, July 2 at 9:00am at both Turnstone and Indiana Tech locations.

Competition times may vary and a current competition schedule can be found online at www.ibsafortwayne2019.com