Maria Pekli

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Maria Pekli , after marrying Maria Kelly , (born June 12, 1972 in Baja ) is a former Australian judoka who competed for Hungary until 1996.

Athletic career

In 1989 Pekli was the Hungarian national champion in the light weight division, at the Junior European Championships in 1989 she took second place. In 1990 the 1.58 m tall Pekli switched to lightweight, the weight class up to 56 kilograms. In 1991 she won her first Hungarian national championship title in this weight class, and four more followed from 1993 to 1996. At the Olympic premiere of women's judo in Barcelona in 1992 , she lost her first fight.

At the World Judo Championships in 1993 she finished fifth after four wins and two losses against the Japanese Chiyori Tateno and the Dutch Jessica Gal . In 1995 she was seventh at the European Championships. At the European Championships in 1996 Pekli met Jessica Gal in the final and received the silver medal. At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta , she won her first two fights and then lost to Isabel Fernández from Spain . In the hoping round she lost to Zülfiyyə Hüseynova from Azerbaijan and finally finished ninth. On October 12, Pekli won the Hungarian championships. She then left Hungary after falling out with the Hungarian Association.

After moving to Australia, she trained at the Caulfield Judo Club in Melbourne. She won the Australian championships from 1997 to 1999, but was internationally banned for three years. In October 1999 she finished third in two international tournaments in North America. 2000 Pekli won the Oceania Championships. Two weeks later she reached the final at the World Cup tournament in Rome, which she lost to the Cuban Yurisleidy Lupetey . A week after Rome, she also took second place at the World Cup tournament in Rotterdam, this time behind Belgian Marisabel Lomba . At the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000, Pekli was defeated in the semifinals by the Spaniard Isabel Fernández, in the battle for bronze she defeated the Italian Cinzia Cavazzuti . 36 years after Theodore Boronovskis she had won the second Olympic judo medal for Australia. No more was added until 2016.

From 1997 to 2003 Pekli won seven Australian national championships, in 2002, 2003 and 2004 she won the Oceania Championships. They also won at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. At the Judo World Championships in 2003 , she finished fifth. After she was eliminated in her first fight against Swiss Lena Göldi at the 2004 Olympic Games , Pekli retired from competitive sports for two years. In 2007 she was back and in 2008 she won again at the Oceania Championships. At the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 she reached the semifinals, after defeats to the Italian Giulia Quintavalle and the Brazilian Ketleyn Quadros , she finished fifth.

Maria Pekli is married to the Australian judoka and four-time Olympian Daniel Kelly . In 2015 she was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Judo Federation . Maria Pekli-Kelly has been employed by the Australian Judo Association as technical director since 2017.

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personal data
SURNAME Pekli, Maria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kelly, Maria
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian judoka
DATE OF BIRTH June 12, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH Baja