On the third and final day, two more gold medals were earned by IJF representing athletes, totalling five over the course of the tournament, and behind them, the Netherlands and France.
Adding success to the aforementioned in the -90kg category were eventual gold medallist, Mansur LORSANOV (IJF) and Jesper SMINK (NED). The latter gave a blinding performance in the Prague European Open in the run up to this IJF World Tour event, and seemed to continue on this path today. This was the first time the pair had faced each other in competition and it took some time to get a feel for one another, then in the last minute, Lorsanov committed with a huge koshi guruma for the gold medal win.
Similarly, in the -78kg category, Anna Monta OLEK (GER) had a winning performance in Prague, warming up for the bigger events after much time away from competition, and it appeared to be the right decision as she on fire on day three. Chloe BUTTIGIEG (FRA) was her final opponent, and though she made it very difficult in the opening minute, Olek found her o uchi gari to work a charm, and she claimed her first Grand Slam gold, to accompany her three Grand Prix gold medals, two of which she won this year.
Michael KORREL (NED) was back in business in the -100kg category. The top seed was given the challenge of Niiaz BILALOV (IJF), who took the Dutch athlete in to golden score. After a further minute of contest time, Korrel was still searching for a way in and though he didn’t quiet catch the furthest leg as he’d hoped, his commitment and reach was enough to score waza ari with a soto makikomi. This of course wasn’t a first gold for 30 year-old Korrel, but an impressive sixth grand slam gold.
In the +78kg category, Karen STEVENSON (NED) looked to add another gold medal to the Netherlands loot, however a weak drop seoi nage attempt was immediately captured by opponent, Coralie HAYME (FRA) who used Stevenson’s arm to pull her back and immediately in to a hold, securing the osaekomi for 20 seconds and winning her first Grand Slam gold.
Finally, Valerii ENDOVITSKII (IJF) had already endured a challenging day, defeating team mate, Tamerlan BASHAEV (IJF) in the semi final in a gruelling golden score. Then against Ushangi KOKAURI (AZE), the pair struggled and picked up two shidos each heading in to the final minute, but Endovitskii caught the foot of Ushangi, creating momentum, throwing with uki otoshi before salvaging the contest on the ground, claiming the ippon win.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen