Who will stop Nice? Holders of the title, the Nissart team put in a perfect performance during the elimination phase. Undefeated and impressive, Thierry Dibert and Benjamin Gury's team confirmed their status as favourites for the title, with some frightening statistics for their opponents. Indeed, Judo Nice Métropole dominated every aspect of this first phase. They finished first in the standings with fifteen points, being the only team to win all four of their matches. They also led in bonus points (three), bouts won (31), ippons (18) and points scored (255).

A team that has gone into indestructible mode and has winning in its DNA: last season, the franchise presided over by Mohamed Otmane lost just one match, in the group stage, to Étoile Sportive de Blanc-Mesnil. A duel they lost despite knowing they had already qualified for the quarter-finals. In 2022-2023, Les Azuréens suffered two defeats against the same opponents, Paris Saclay Judo. The first in the pool and the second... in the final.

Built from the outset with judokas trained on the Côte d'Azur, the Judo Nice Métropole team, strengthened for this edition by women from AS Chelles Judo (see below), who will meet JC Chilly-Mazarin Morangis at home at the beginning of January, knows it is expected to compete. Confident in her strengths, she is well aware that a new competition is starting, as Mohamed Otmane lucidly analyzes. "Finishing first is obviously satisfying, but you have to realize that the draw was in our favor. We won twice, ten to nil. I'm very happy about that, not so much because of the score itself, but because the team was serious from start to finish in every game, doing what it took to get the bonus point. Against Juniville-Marnaval Grand Est, a fine team by the way, we gave ourselves a bit of a scare, no doubt because of our complacency. With the quarter-final, the serious business begins with the decisive matches: it's make or break from now on."

Thierry Dibert, who has been in the coach's chair since the start of the Judo Pro League adventure, approves and confirms this balance. "Like every season, our aim is to reach the Final Four. The first year, we lost in the final on the last fight. Last season, we became champions on the last fight. It comes down to nothing. In this elimination phase, we didn't try to be first. We did our job, seriously. We even had the right to lose a fight. Now, that's no longer the case.

Thierry Dibert adds: "This is a formidable group from Nice, with quality and experience. "Some are taking part for the third time. All our judokas, with perhaps one exception, are French internationals. So they're used to the very highest level. A very well-armed team in both the men's and women's categories. The proof? Two of them, Léa Métrot and Grâce-Esther Mienandi Lahou, are among the top five judokas in this year's competition in terms of individual points scored, with four victories in as many bouts!
On the men's side, Luca Otmane, back in his homeland with his home club and freshly crowned French champion in the -81kg class, reinforces an already successful squad.

They've all known each other since they were kids," explains Mohamed Otmane. Many of them attended Nice's Pôle Espoirs at the same time. They have a history together and are all very attached to their club and the Côte d'Azur. This season, several women from the Chelles club joined the adventure. The feeling with Benjamin Gury, who looks after Léa Métrot in Paris, is very good. In fact, we have him to thank for this agreement, which clicked immediately. JC Chilly-Mazarin Morangis has been warned.

PRESENTATION

In the end, this quarter-final will be one of extremes between the first and eighth place finishers. Judo Nice Métropole will be able to count on its many strengths: Léa Metrot, Rania Drid (bronze medallist at the 2024 French Championships) and Grâce-Esther Mienandi-Lahou for the women, Driss Masson-Jbilou (fifth at the French Championships in early November), Luca Otmane, 2024 French champion in the -81kg class, and Tizie Gnamien, third at the European Open in Italy in early November, for the men.
Chilly-Mazarin, for its part, also has a few trump cards up its sleeve, including a master trump card in the person of -73kg Olympic vice-champion Joan-Benjamin Gaba. Lara-Hieu Filet, in the -70kg class, proved particularly solid during the qualifying rounds, winning three of her four bouts.