Not only did Fabienne KOCHER take the gold in the -52kg on day one of the Dushanbe Grand Slam, her first World Tour medal in two years, but another Swiss athlete was back on the podium on day two. In his classic style, Nils STUMP (SUI) was finally out of his rut, following his world title win a year ago, Stump has been missing the podium, yet nothing was stopping him in Dushanbe, claiming the second gold for Team Switzerland.
It wasn’t a straight forward day for him either with stiff opponents, and in the final took on both Behruzi KHOJAZODA (TJK) and the home crowd, who had half filled the arena well before the competition had even kicked off. An overstretched ko uchi gari attempt from Khojazoda left him vulnerable, Stump capitalising by countering and holding in osaekomi for the win.
In the -63kg and -70kg categories, Austria could boast gold medals from Lubjana PIOVESANA and Michaela POLLERES. This is Piovesana’s second Grand Slam gold for Team Austria this year, moving her up significantly in the world ranking list, with potential for a top eight position depending on her World Championships result. As for Polleres, the Olympic silver medallist has been at the top for some time now, picked up her third Grand Slam gold. Wachid BORCHASHVILI (AUT) also added a silver medal to the haul in Dushanbe, which could shake things up in the Austrian delegation, with brother Shamil just ahead of him after a European Championships bronze medal win in Zagreb.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen