Anise Lounifi

Anise Lounifi ( Arabic أنيس الونيفي, DMG Anīs al-Wanīfī ; * January 7, 1978 ) is a former Tunisian judoka and later judo trainer. In 2001 he was the first African judo world champion.

Athletic career

The 1.68 m tall Anis Lounifi fought in the super light weight class up to 60 kilograms and in the half-light weight class up to 66 kilograms.

1999 Lounifi was active in the half-light weight. At the African Games in Johannesburg in 1999 he reached the final and received the silver medal behind the Algerian Amar Meridja . At the 1999 World Championships in Birmingham, he lost his opening match against the British David Somerville . In 2000, Lounifi won the super-lightweight title in Algiers. At the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000 he competed in the half -lightweight division, but retired in his first fight against the Japanese Yukimasa Nakamura .

At the 2001 World Championships in Munich, he defeated the British John Buchanan , the Slovakian Marek Matuszek and the Cuban Manolo Poulot in his first three fights . In the quarterfinals he defeated the Iranian Masoud Haji Akhondzadeh and in the semifinals the Japanese Kazuhiko Tokuno . With his final victory over the Belgian Cédric Taymans , he became the first African to win a world championship in judo. In autumn 2001 Lounifi also won the Mediterranean Games in Tunis, where he won the only title for the host nation.

In 2002 Lounifi won the African Championships in Cairo in the light weight division, in the final he defeated Amar Meridja. Also in 2003 Lounifi fought in international tournaments in the light weight, for the World Championships in 2003 in Osaka he starved himself down to the super light weight. He defeated the Japanese Tadahiro Nomura in the second round and the Israeli Gal Yekutiel in the quarterfinals . After his semi-final defeat against the South Korean Choi Min-ho , he won the battle for a bronze medal against the North Korean Pak Nam-choi . In 2004 Lounifi won a bronze medal in the light weight division at the African Championships in Tunis. At the Olympic Games in Athens, he won his first super-lightweight fight against Pak Nam-choi. In his second fight he was eliminated against the Russian Evgeny Stanew . In 2005 Anis Lounifi was again third at the African Championships in Port Elizabeth.

After his career Lounifi became a judo trainer and worked as a national trainer in his country. In 2018 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Judo Federation .

Web links

• Tournament results at judoinside.com
• Anis Lounifi in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Footnotes

1. ↑ African Games in 1999 at judoinside.com
2. ↑ Match balance at judoinside.com
3. ↑ Mediterranean Games 2001 at judoinside.com