Seeded number one for this tournament, Garrigos had the benefit of a first round bye. His second round contest was against Hector ALVARADO (VEN) who at 116 on the IJF World Ranking List proved to be a surprisingly difficult opponent for the young Spaniard. Alvarado collected two penalties as he fought off the efforts of Garrigos, the Venezuelan eventually going over with 24 seconds left on the clock to an o soto gari counter for waza ari, the only score of the contest.
In the quarter final Garrigos was again tested and only in the dying seconds of his contest with Dilmer CALLE (PER) was he able to secure kuzure tate shio gatame for ippon. In the semi final Garrigos was again made to spend time on the tatami but was able once again able to employ tate shio gatame, this time against Daniel BEN DAVID (ISR). The final saw Garrigos up against Phelipe PELIM (BRA) to whom the Spaniard had lost in their three previous encounters. This time however Garrigos was ruthless in his execution and, having already demonstrated earlier in the day his prowess in ne waza, he proceeded after only 30 seconds to apply hadaka jime from which Pelim was forced to submit.
Garrigos was deliberate and methodical in his approach to justifying his position as number one seed here in Cancun. He also showed a degree of poise and application that suggests confidence in his own abilities. He may stay for the training camp that follows the Grand Prix or, perhaps, he may wish to take advantage of the sunshine and Caribbean Sea: he has earned it.
High performance sport requires total focus and absolute concentration. Francisco GARRIGOS (ESP) may be forgiven if the beautiful Caribbean setting of Cancun proved a distraction. But on the opening day of this inaugural Grand Prix Garrigos put aside any thoughts of white sandy beaches and blue seas and turned his attention to capturing the gold medal in the under 60kg category. Aged still only 22-years old, Garrigos struck gold in what was already his 18th IJF Grand Prix outing.
Seeded number one for this tournament, Garrigos had the benefit of a first round bye. His second round contest was against Hector ALVARADO (VEN) who at 116 on the IJF World Ranking List proved to be a surprisingly difficult opponent for the young Spaniard. Alvarado collected two penalties as he fought off the efforts of Garrigos, the Venezuelan eventually going over with 24 seconds left on the clock to an o soto gari counter for waza ari, the only score of the contest.
In the quarter final Garrigos was again tested and only in the dying seconds of his contest with Dilmer CALLE (PER) was he able to secure kuzure tate shio gatame for ippon. In the semi final Garrigos was again made to spend time on the tatami but was able once again able to employ tate shio gatame, this time against Daniel BEN DAVID (ISR). The final saw Garrigos up against Phelipe PELIM (BRA) to whom the Spaniard had lost in their three previous encounters. This time however Garrigos was ruthless in his execution and, having already demonstrated earlier in the day his prowess in ne waza, he proceeded after only 30 seconds to apply hadaka jime from which Pelim was forced to submit.
Garrigos was deliberate and methodical in his approach to justifying his position as number one seed here in Cancun. He also showed a degree of poise and application that suggests confidence in his own abilities. He may stay for the training camp that follows the Grand Prix or, perhaps, he may wish to take advantage of the sunshine and Caribbean Sea: he has earned it.
