In Brief
Boukouvala wins gold in judo World Cup Ioulieta Boukouvala won the gold medal in the last event of the Judo World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday. The Greek athlete topped the under-57-kilogram category, defeating two opponents from Ukraine and one from Russia in the process. «Ioulieta competed in the toughest category of the tournament, despite being ill, and managed to meet the target she had set before coming to Baku,» said federation coach Vladimiros Papadopoulos. «This is a medal that will play an important role as of January, when a new marathon is expecting us,» he added. Pyrros Dimas carries weight of rebuilding his sport Three-time Olympic gold medalist Pyrros Dimas was elected to the presidency of the Hellenic Weightlifting Federation on Saturday. The legend of Greek weightlifting was the sole candidate for the post and has been given the tough task of redeeming the sport from the poor reputation it garnered this year, when 11 national team athletes tested positive for a banned substance. «We can all turn the page with patience and persistence in order to take our sport back into the hearts of Greeks through schools, clubs and coaches,» said Dimas. Mixed fortunes Handball champion ASE Doukas suffered a heavy loss in the Champions League to Denmark’s GOG Svendborg at home (23-41), but Philippos Verias qualified to the last 32 of the Challenge Cup. The Macedonian side finished second in its group in Italy, thanks to wins over England’s Great Dane (39-17) and Bosnia’s Gorazde (32-26). Ten Cate for Luisao? Panathinaikos soccer coach Henk ten Cate is interested in Benfica’s central defender Luisao, according to Portuguese sports newspaper Record. The Brazilian international (27 caps, two goals) has a contract with the Portuguese club until 2011. Rugby win The national rugby team began its FIRA-AER Group 3C matches in style with a 12-10 away win over Finland in Helsinki on Saturday, thanks to a try in each half. Next month Greece is scheduled to face Israel.
