Although only one of the five gold medals was won by a European athlete on the first day of the Zagreb Grand Prix 2024, the opening event on the IJF World Tour saw 16 of the 20 available medals divided among the European nations.
Faiza MOKDAR (FRA) was the star of the -57kg category, claiming the gold, a great start to the new Olympiad, however for the home crowd, it was the silver medal claim for Ana Viktorija PULJIZ that was a huge cause for celebration. Formerly of the -52kg category, Puljiz has now demonstrated that she is ready to tackle the next level. Achieving bronze medal status were Flaka LOXHA (KOS) and Martha FAWAZ (FRA), both graduating from continental open level to take their first IJF World Tour medals.
In the men’s categories, Kazakhstan cleaned up the gold medal haul, Sherzod DAVLATOV (-60kg) and Zhanarys RAKHMETKALI (-66kg), with the assistance of -48kg silver medallist, Galiya TYNBAYEVA, put their nation at the top of the medal on day one.
Ahmad YUSIFOV (AZE) just fell short in the -60kg final, though made a point as the lower seeded Azerbaijan athlete to take the better result, Turan BAYRAMOV settling for the bronze on this occasion. It was a swift semi final between the two, 18 seconds to be exact.
In the -66kg category, another medal was added to Azerbaijan’s collection, a bronze from Ruslan PASHAYEV. The final seemed in reach for Pashayev however Great Britain’s Michael FRYER continued with his cool manner, and with less than 45 seconds left on the clock threw with a front uchi mata for ippon. Though Fryer missed out on the gold medal, it was not a swift defeat, heading in to golden score against Rakhmetkali, nevertheless this is the best achievement in Fryer’s career so far.
On the other side of the draw, the 2023 Junior European Champion, Tengo ZIRAKASHVILI (GEO) was on blistering form to take the -66kg bronze medal.
Japan made a strong start in Zagreb, KOGA Wakana (-48kg) and OMORI Kisumi (-52kg) dominating in their categories. Though the -48kg final was lost to Europe, the Warsaw European Open winner, Anais PERROT (FRA) made the leap to attain her first medal at the top level, joined on the podium by Amber GERSJES (NED).
Since her arrival on the judo scene under the Spanish flag, Ayumi LEIVA SANCHEZ (ESP) has been a source of great judo and great entertainment, though not to her opponents. Already with two Grand Slam medals in 2024, Leiva had some determination entering this event, and a silver medal in the -52kg category was very deserving. France continued to show that the weight categories were saturated with potential as Leonie GONZALEZ took bronze along side Tereza BODNAROVA (CZE).
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen