It was a tough start to the final block on day two of the Rome European Open 2024, with an all-Georgian final in the -81kg category between Vladimir AKHALKATSI and Irakli BEROSHVILI. It started as a cagey contest, both aware of the others abilities, but it was Beroshvili that truly committed, his timing and placement was perfect, a huge koshi guruma scored him ippon! Then all celebration became unravelled as the replay showed that his head had connected with the tatami. It was both a devastating loss and bitter win, Akhalkatsi simply lifted his opponents arm, feeling that he deserved it with the action.
In the first half of the -48kg final between Jaqueline SPRINGER (AUT) and Mireia RODRIGUEZ SALVADOR (ESP), it was very physical, Springer was on a mission and managed to secured Rodriguez on the ground to score waza ari with the osaekomi. The Spanish athlete almost made a mirror comeback, with a minute left on the clock however Springer was able to escape the hold. It continued to be a desperate contest for Rodriguez but Springer managed the rest of the contest well and came away with a win, her second continental open gold.
From the starting contest of the day, Kenny Komi BEDEL (ITA) had been carrying the crowds energy right to the -90kg final against Mark VAN DIJK (NED). Again, this was a physical contest from the get go and soon became a matter of stress for Van Dijk who picked up two shidos in quick succession. With less than a minute on the clock, a driving o uchi gari from Bedel put a waza ari on the board, a much needed score, which appeared to ground him in this tense final. Then with only 11 seconds left, he threw away a second shido which could have cost him but he cleverly put in a great makikomi attempt, almost scoring for a second time before the clock ran down.
There were quite a few top athletes in this event today that did not manage to make it in to the final block, however one well-known name did; Mireia LAPUERTA COMAS (ESP). It was Ilaria FINESTRONE (ITA) that would be taking on the dynamic Spanish judoka, and did a great job at calming the contest, and ran it at her own pace. As the pair headed in to golden score, not something we have seen a lot of during this event, Finestrone used the momentum of her opponent who was stepping off the leg of an uchi mata entry, to hook in for ko uchi gake and take the win!
Italy’s success continued in the -100kg category at the hands of Henry Owusu Asare OWUSU. This was one of the hardest fought finals of the event, a true mental test for both Owusu and his opponent, Tim SCHMIDT (GER). It took almost seven minutes of contest time to decide the winner of this category, a gruelling golden score that could have easily gone either way. Schmidt gave his last ounce of energy, attacking with a driving o uchi gari, but Owusu was able to ground it and stop the drive, countering with ko soto gake to take the gold medal.
It was another national rivalry in the final block, but this time for Germany in the -57kg category between Jana ZIEGLER and Laila GOEBEL. The latter fell behind in the first half of the contest, ceding two shidos, but did not appear deterred by the run of play. Unfortunately however, the result was shido based. With 36 seconds left on the clock, both athletes were awarded shido for passivity which of course meant a loss for Goebel on this occasion.
Concluding the Rome European Open 2024 were the heavyweight men. Stepping up in to the heavyweight category today was Gennaro PIRELLI (ITA) and in the final he faced Yevheniy BALYEVSKYY (UKR). Pirelli gave a stellar performance in the Olympic Games, particularly during the Mixed Team event, competing against the best heavyweights in the world including Alisher YUSUPOV (UZB). This is of course his return to competition following his outing in Paris, and in a new weight category, but he continued on his way in to the final, and was first to score, initiating a morote seoi nage, which over rotated, he continued with a kata guruma-style drive for waza ari. In an impressive feat, he staved off his opponent as the clock ran out and won the gold medal.
This gold was added to an incredible collection from Team Italy this weekend who topped the medal table; six gold, three silver and 13 bronze medals in total. It was a perfect end to the European Judo Tour 2024 and we look forward to the 2025 season.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen