Six U.S. Players to Compete at Swedish Open This Weekend

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) - Six U.S. athletes will be among more than 200 athletes expected to vie for cash prizes of 1,000 Euros for titles won at the Swedish Open, a USA Judo Senior B-Level Point Tournament, in Boras this weekend. 

Natalie Lafon (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) placed fifth in this event in 2008 as a 48kg player, but moved back up to 52kg in September when she won a bronze medal at the U.S. Open.  Lafon followed the bronze with a gold at the Rendez-Vous Canada two weeks ago and a gold medal in Sweden would be her first major European title.   

Ann Shiraishi (San Francisco, Calif. / East Bay Judo Institute) medalled at the U.S. Open and won Rendez-Vous as a 48kg player.  This will be Shiraishi's first European event since winning the 2008 Finnish Open a year ago.

A bronze medalist in the 57kg division at the U.S. Open and Rendez-Vous, Hannah Martin (Burnt Hills, N.Y. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) also is looking for a trip to the podium, but a top-five finish would allow the former Junior World Team member to move into the #1 slot in the senior rankings. 

Toni Geiger (Dumont, N.J. / Tech Judo) will be making her European debut this weekend.  The +78kg player became the top-ranked U.S. heavyweight after winning gold in Rendez-Vous and will be testing her skills against a whole new crop of players in Sweden.

Jake Larsen (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center / Boulder Judo Training Center), the 2008 U.S. Open silver medalist in the 90kg division, is coming off of a two-week training and competition trip to Brazil in October, but this also will be Larsen's first major European event.

Jeff Fujimoto (Berkeley, Calif. / Cal Judo / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University) placed fifth at the Rendez-Vous and U.S. Open, but will be looking for his first senior international medal in Sweden.   

Competition schedule is as follows:

Saturday, Oct. 31
Men's 81kg, 90kg, 100kg and +100kg
Women's 48kg, 52kg and 57kg

Sunday, Nov. 1
Men's 60kg, 66kg and 73kg
Women's 63kg, 70kg, 78kg and +78kg

 

Tags: Ann Shiraishi, Hannah Martin, Jacob Larsen, Jeff Fujimoto, Natalie Lafon, Toni Geiger