Sandy North Wins Fourth Veterans Worlds Title
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by Bill Kellick
Sandy North (Hollywood, Fla. / Budokan Judo School) successfully defended his title on Thursday, capturing his fourth gold medal and eighth medal overall at the International Judo Federation Veterans World Championships in Paris. His gold in the M9 (males 70+) 60 kg division led a four-medal day for American athletes and gave the U.S. a total of eight medals with one day of competition remaining.
North won all three of his matches by ippon (instant win), but needed Golden Score (sudden death overtime) to do so in both of his first two victories over Julio Vicente Ramos (ESP) and Andrei Liberman (IJF). The final match against Hans Nessensohn (SUI), however, lasted just 91 seconds before North threw Nessensohn for ippon, claiming the title.
Arthur Scotto (Warwick, R.I. / New York Athletic Club) won the silver medal in the M8 (males 65-69) +100 kg competition. Scotto took Golden Score victories over Viliam Kohut (SVK) and Didier Allot (FRA) to reach the final. There, he lost by ippon to six-time Veteran World Champion Slavko Stanisic (SRB). It was Scotto's first silver medal at the Veteran Worlds to go with his three bronze medals won in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
Winning bronze medals on Thursday were Serge Kuleshov (Prospect Heights, Ill. / Kudokan School of MMA) and Douglas Tono (Skokie, Ill. / Tohkon Judo Academy).
Kuleshov took third place in the M9 (males 70+) +100 kg competition to earn his second Veterans Worlds medal to go along with his gold in 2016. He defeated Mihail Malear (MDA) and Pedro Carpintero Munoz de la Pena (ESP) to reach the medal round. After losing by waza-ari (half-point) in the semifinal to Karel Vojkuvka (CZE), Kuleshov threw Lothar Sterlinsky (GER) for ippon just 30 seconds into their bronze-medal match to secure his place on the podium.
Tono earned his sixth career Veterans Worlds medal by taking bronze in the M8 (males 65-69) 66 kg division. He advanced to the medal round with consecutive victories over Alberto Renedo (ARG) and Jose Fugiwara (BRA). Following a semifinal loss by waza-ari to Rudolf Czempik (GER), Tono scored two waza-aris against Jean-Louis Capdeville (FRA) to capture the bronze.
Other top-8 finishes for the U.S. on Thursday came from William Langbauer (Dartmouth, Mass. / Celtic Judo Club), who placed fourth in the M9 (males 70+) 100 kg division, and Chris VanLandingham (Broken Arrow, Okla. / Tulsa Judo and Jiu Jitsu), who finished seventh in the M7 (males 60-64) 100 kg division.
Competition at the Veterans Worlds concludes on Friday with the women's divisions.
Thursday's top-8 U.S. results are as follows:
Men’s 9 (70+) 60 kg
1. Sandy North (Hollywood, Fla. / Budokan Judo School)
2. Hans Nessensohn (SUI)
3. Julio Vicente Ramos (ESP)
4. Andrei Liberman (IJF)
Men’s 8 (65-69) +100 kg
1. Slavko Stanisic (SRB)
2. Arthur Scotto (Warwick, R.I. / New York Athletic Club)
3. Dermot Killeen (IRL)
3. Alfons Schussmann (AUT)
5. Didier Allot (FRA)
5. James McKelvie (GBR)
7. Viliam Kohut (SVK)
Men’s 9 (70+) +100 kg
1. Mihail Malear (MDA)
2. Karel Vojkuvka (CZE)
3. Serge Kuleshov (Prospect Heights, Ill. / Kudokan School of MMA)
4. Lothar Sterlinsky (GER)
5. Pedro Carpintero Munoz de la Pena (ESP)
Men’s 8 (65-69) 66 kg
1. Rudolf Czempik (GER)
2. Stanislaw Pazgan (POL)
3. Douglas Tono (Skokie, Ill. / Tohkon Judo Academy)
3. Jose Fugiwara (BRA)
5. Jean-Louis Capdeville (FRA)
5. Vahid Azarpur (AZE)
7. Denis Rinck (FRA)
7. Sergio Valli (ITA)
Men’s 9 (70+) 100 kg
1. Luis Torres Cobas (CUB)
2. Patrick Bryan (GBR)
3. Alain Leger (FRA)
4. William Langbauer (Dartmouth, Mass. / Celtic Judo Club)
Men’s 7 (60-64) 100 kg
1. Alexsandr Kostin (IJF)
2. William Lacombe (FRA)
3. David Almeida (BRA)
3. Nigel Thompson (GBR)
5. Slawomir Kaminski (POL)
5. Stephen Preece (GBR)
7. James Waithe (GBR)
7. Chris VanLandingham (Broken Arrow, Okla. / Tulsa Judo and Jiu Jitsu)
