After his team's perfectly successful start to the competition, Corsica Judo manager Yves Camuzet takes stock of his young squad's progress and objectives.

 

After 2 rounds, Corsica Judo is unbeaten and leading its group. How would you sum up the first 2 matches?

First of all, we were delighted to face OM at home on the first day. As with the first game, we didn't go into it with confidence, but with serenity. We played to our strengths. The game against Auxerre was closer, but it came down to points, and that's the most important thing. Last year, we reached the quarter-finals for the first time. This year, the idea is to reach the Final Four, so it's a good start that we'll have to confirm.

 

What are these first victories based on?

I don't think we have any particularly identifiable strengths from these two games. That's probably the easy answer, but I think our strong point is the team and its members. The strength of this team is the desire to please and to please ourselves. And that's really the DNA of Corsica Judo. And we try to stick to it without getting carried away. We do things professionally, of course, but always with the notion of pleasure.

 

Did you make any strategic adjustments between the two meetings?

Indeed, it's a bit of a game where you have to say to yourself, "How are we going to approach this meeting? Are we going to change the lines? That's what we did on the second day, making changes in certain categories. In the end, we adapted our line-up to the opponent we faced. It's all done with simplicity and without bitterness.

 

As far as the group itself is concerned, what do you think of your group and the upcoming matches?

We're in a group of 3, so in the end it's an advantage for us. We've managed to take the lead in this group in fine style. We'll now have to confirm our position at home to Ajaccio on October 3, and beat Auxerre, who will be keen to respond. As for OM, I think they'll be waiting for us with bated breath, given that they had a hole in the -70kg team in the first leg. If we win the next game, we'll be mathematically sure of finishing first. We're taking it one step at a time.

 

Does this new format seem to suit your team perfectly?

In Corsica, 100% supports the Judo Pro League format, believing it to be a great opportunity for French judo and for the development of judo's visibility in general. This is a positive and constructive development for the Pro League: whereas last year almost all the events took place in the Paris region, this year we have the opportunity to host the competition here in Corsica. Now, if Corsica makes it to the end of the competition, that'll be even better (Laughs)! There's a certain pride in representing Corsica. There's this desire to outdo ourselves and to be good sportsmen and women. It was fantastic in Ajaccio, and all the kids were on fire. Even though some of them didn't know the athletes, they all cheered them on as if they'd known them for 10 years. Some athletes were very sensitive to this: when some heard their first name, we could see the acceleration, the changes in behavior. Even when they were tired, the athletes outdid themselves.