Van Snick on the podium in Tel Aviv

It was an excellent start to the season. Our Belgian champion Charline Van Snick (ranked 11^th in the world) took third place by beating Karolina Pienkowska from Poland (ranked 30^th in the world) with an Ippon. The competition didn't start well for the Liège resident as she lost the tournament quarterfinal to Chishima Maeda of Japan (ranked 40^th in the world), who was the weaker fighter on paper. However, she was able to come back in the competition thanks to the repechage. She went on to win the semi-final against the formidable Israeli Gefen Primo (ranked 9^th in the world).

All ended well for our champion, who took advantage of this excellent result to start the new year with peace of mind. She experienced some difficult times at the end of 2019 according to her trainer Cédric Taymans: "Charline was hungry for competition and victories because she ended 2019 very frustrated at the Masters. The change in some of the refereeing rules didn't help her. She is trying to adjust her fighting style, both technically and tactically. However, some movements are instinctive and can't be changed overnight."

This is the sixteenth time Charline has reached the podium in an international competition.