Denny Ebbers

Heavyweight Denny Ebbers was one of Netherlands’ most popular Judokas and made his representative debut in the over-78 kg class at the 1990 Dutch Team Championships. In 1992 he won the bronze medal in the Dutch Junior Championships. The following year he captured the title and also won a bronze medal at the European Junior Championships at Arnhem. This was the moment Ebbers arrived on the international stage.

He completed the double of Junior and Senior National titles in 1994 and won a bronze medal at the 1995 European Championships in Birmingham. He was selected for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics but was beaten in the second round in the over-95 kg class by Germany’s Frank Möller. Having won three national Military titles Ebbers was the World Military champion in the Open class in 1997. Denny’s last major international success was in the Dutch Open in 1998.

In 2009 he was diagnosed with a brain tumour and finally lost his last fight in 2015 just five days after his 41st birthday. Knowing the illness was terminal, his fellow Judokas rallied around with fund raising events to help his wife Ursula pay for their three sons education.