By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The International Judo Federation’s World Junior Championships is here.

With five continents represented by 79 countries, including 492 judokas, comprising of 281 men and 211 women, the Bahamas Judo Federation has set the stage for the five days of intense competition from Wednesday to Sunday in the Atlantis ballroom on Paradise Island.

“This is definitely the largest sporting event that the Bahamas has hosted,” said Brian Kemp, the BJF’s chief liaison for the event. “We feel that when this is done, it will also be the largest World Junior Championship ever held.”

Competition is scheduled to run from 10am daily with the awards ceremonies from 4-6pm. He noted that it might be slow for the viewing public to catch on, but once they grasp the idea of “people flying in the air,” they will want to come out.

“Just the fact that we have all of these athletes from all of these nationalities here, it’s going to be a history-making event,” Kemp said. “So we want the Bahamian people to come out and to see it and experience the sport.

“We know that it’s not one of the most famous sports in the Bahamas, but I feel when people come and they see the excitement and the dynamics of what judoka is, they will appreciate it a lot more.”

A number of judokas are already in town. As a matter of fact, all of the competitors should have arrived by last night. Today is set for the weigh-in ceremonies and final practices before the competition gets underway Wednesday.

Sophia Petrocchi, from Aruba, is competing in her second appearance in the World Junior Championships, but admitted that she still can’t believe that she is in the Bahamas.

“The hotel and the beach and the weather, it’s all amazing,” she said. “I love it.”

Petrocchi, who will be competing in the -57 kilogram class, is currently ranked at No.68 in the world, but she’s looking to lower that at the end of the competition.

“I’m here to do my best and to enjoy the Bahamas,” stated the 15-year-old, who is coming off a fifth place finish at the Montreal Junior Panamerican Cup in June. “I’m looking forward to winning or at least to get a medal.”

Paula Lopez, representing Costa Rica in the -52 kg class, said the people have been so hospitable and she’s enjoying all of the amenities that the Bahamas has to offer in her first visit here as well. “I’ve been preparing for this for quite a long time. I’ve been training with different stages twice a week, so I feel I’m ready,” said Lopez, who was third in the Lima Junior Pan American Cup in June. “I would like to be recognised as a great judoka, but of course I would like to win.”

And Bolat Yerassyl of Kazakhstan, seeded number 21 in the -90 kg class, said he is enjoying it here in the Bahamas.

“I like it. It’s good,” he stated. “It’s very nice. We don’t have an ocean in Kazakhstan, so to come here and see this, it’s like wow.”

Yerassyl, a third place finisher at both the Asian Junior Championships in May and the Almaty Junior Asian Cup in April, said he’s here with one goal in mind and that is to win.

“I’ve been doing a lot of training and so I want to compete very well here,” he pointed out. “I know the competition is going to be stiff, but I am looking forward to doing very well here.”

Rhadi Bullard-Ferguson, a Bahamian-American mixed martial arts trainer who will be on the coaching staff for the Bahamas, said based on what he’s seen, there should be a couple top seven finishers and at least one Bahamian on the medal stand.

“That’s my basic expectations,” said Bullard-Ferguson, who competed in the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in the men’s half-heavyweight division. “I think that Andrew Munnings, although he’s in a tough weight class, if he is focused for the day, he has an opportunity to pop through and do something huge.

“Not just because he works hard and he’s a good athlete, but he come from a family that understands high pressure competition. His father lined up in the Olympics, so he understands what it’s like to function under high pressure competition. You never know how anybody is going to function until they get to the international level.”

Bullard-Ferguson, however, commended federation president D’Arcy Rahming for the tremendous strides he made in transforming the sport and giving so many of the athletes the opportunity to compete overseas to get their feet whet for the tournament at home.

“The beautiful thing about this championships is that they don’t have to travel, they just have to deal with the pressure,” Bullard Ferguson proclaimed. “Having all of these things coming in, the excitement with all of the banners being raised and being in a hotel, that ‘s a little different from where they come from.

“But if they can manage their emotions, they will do well. This is huge to have this event here at home. I want to commend D’Arcy Rahming because we have had been able to push this programme so far ahead that it is now one of the most respected programmes in the world.”

When these championships are done, Bullard Ferguson said the Bahamas will be remembered for hosting the third biggest international championships in the sport, trailing only the

“You can’t ask for now,” Bullard Ferguson summed up. “It does my heart and my family proud to have my hand into this progress. Last year I was inducted into the Bahamas Judo Federation Hall of Fame and I’m in the Bahamas coaching as the sport continue to flourish.”

American coach Arkadiy Aronov said the Bahamas has already gotten high marks for hosting the World Junior Judo Championships and the event hasn’t even gotten started yet.

And Armen Bagdasarov, a silver medalist for Uzbekistan at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, said as the Director of the National High School Sports Skills on Martial Arts, he’s looking forward to a very competitive championships this week.