Oberwart loses its international judo tournament. Since 2011, the city has been the scene of a World Cup or European Open tournament. Linz is to replace Oberwart as the venue in the future.
Austria’s only tournament is upgraded on the international tour. It gets the status of a Grand Prix and will take place in Linz in the future. Martin Poiger, President of the Austrian Judo Association and Oberwarter himself, explained that he sees the change with mixed feelings. “Nevertheless, we have now tried to achieve a new tournament class, to increase it to Grand Prix level. The requirements are much higher when it comes to the hall and all the trappings. And so we ended up in Linz and the world association has now awarded us this tournament for the next four years,” said Poiger.
Nevertheless, one remains closely connected with Burgenland and will continue to hold events there, according to the association president. In Linz, the starting field should also become even stronger. 400 judokas from 50 nations are expected.
