Judo In Montenegro

At this year’s Adriatic Cup, 110 competitors from our country and
abroad took part. They competed in two classes. Vuk Rašović won the
under 75 kg competition, whereas the over 75 kg title went to Niemann
(Germany), a four time European champion and a competitor who has
won against Gessing (the world champion) and other outstanding aces.
Rašović road to complete victory was rough. Out of six fights, three
were won by ippon, whereas the other ones were won on points. An
especially exciting fight was the final one, Rašović vs. Jacks. For entire
15 minutes, one could not tell who would win. The fight was full of exceptional
twists and fine moves. Obviously, the two true masters had all
the tricks up their sleeves – no wonder that the fight has been described
as the most exciting in the tournament. Rašović was better by a narrow
margin, enough to get the precious trophy to Titograd.
The over 75 kg title went to Niemann, although Ross and Hoare
(England) had the advantage at certain points. The trophy has become
Niemann’s permanent property, having in mind that this was the third
time he has won the international competition “The Adriatic Cup”.
(From an article by Vujisić, published in “Pobjeda“on July 10, 1966).
This result put Rašović among the ten best athletes of Montenegro
for 1966. On the ranking list of the best athletes for that year, Rašović
took the third place, right behind the parachuter Dragoljub Dragović
and the water polo player Božidar Stanišić.
The first senior state champion from Montenegro was Milorad-
Miško Vujović, who won this title in Maribor in 1968. This feat meant
that the forecast given by the federal coach Svetozar Mihajlović to Boro
Šoć, the journalist of “Pobjeda”, after the Seminar for Judo Instructors
in Cetinje, had come true.
The result earned Vujović a place among the ten best athletes for
1968 as second-ranked, right after the boxer Husein Mahmutović, who
was named the best athlete of Montenegro. In the under 14 category,
Pavle Milić from Titograd was ranked first at the state championship
that same year. This result also placed him among the ten best athletes
of Montenegro, in the sixth position.
The Judo Club “Titograd” was in the centre of all judo events in
Montenegro at the time. Its development largely contributed to the
76