US Orléans wins Judo Pro League 2024-2025! At the end of a Final Four rich in surprises, the Loiret franchise dominated Auxerre Judo in a thrilling final (5-4) to claim the first mixed team title in its rich history.

In the first semi-final, Auxerre Judo sprang a surprise by defeating defending champions Judo Nice Métropole, who had enjoyed a superb season so far. At 3-3, with a waza-ari lead for Grâce Esther Mienandi Lalou in the final seconds of the penultimate bout, Judo Nice thought they had done the hard part. But Valentine Marchand's resilience, followed by Toma Nikiforov's superiority, enabled Auxerre to turn the tide and claim the defending champion.

The other semi-final between Orléans and SGS offered less suspense. Boosted by the victories of Martha Fawaz and Zakari Ainseba, the Orléans team continued their winning ways and finished off their Genovese opponents with a 6-2 final victory.

Having just recovered from their victory over SGS, the US Orléans Judo Loiret had to follow up with another clash, this time for the title. Les Auxerrois got off to a strong start in the light categories with wins by Julie Weill dit Morey and William Cysique, bringing the score to 3-1 after Alexandre Rubiano's ippon victory. But Anthony Rodriguez's judokas were quickly revived, first by Lili Nguyen, then by Arnaud Aregba. Orléans were back on level terms. Tension was now at its height, and the tense battle between Laura Haberstock and Agathe Devitry did nothing to dampen the spirits. In the end, it was Max Laborde and Anne M'Bairo who won back-to-back bouts to clinch victory for their franchise. Maëlle Di Cintio can exult: the US Orléans president's gamble paid off. US Orléans Judo Loiret is French mixed team champion!

So you don't miss a thing

• The Debrief (Meet at 2 p.m. on Sunday, January 19)
• See the full program on www.judoproleague.com

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