Gold medals decided as Zagreb Grand Prix draws to an exciting close

Spread across three days from 27 to 29 July, the sixth annual edition of the Zagreb Grand Prix saw nearly 600 competitors descend on the Croatian capital for the event which is a marker for the World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, in September.

In the women’s under 78kg category, European champion Madeleine Malonga beat Düsseldorf Grand Slam bronze medallist Klara Apotekar of Slovenia for the third time in as many meetings to take gold.

Malonga, who will make her senior World Championships debut in September rushed out and launched attacks from the outset which put Apotekar on the back foot. The world number six utilised her ippon seoi-nage to defeat her Slovenian adversary by the maximum score and as a result will now jump up the rankings and is likely to be among the top seeds one of the favourites for gold in Baku.

In the first semi-final Malonga beat European bronze medallist Anna Maria Wagner of Germany by ippon in golden score after regulation time ended with a waza-ari score apiece. In the second semi-final Apotekar produced a shock by beating seven-time Grand Prix winner Audrey Tcheumeo of France in golden score when the Frenchwoman picked up her third shido in what was an unusually insipid display.

The first bronze medal contest was won by Tcheumeo who floored defending champion Hamada Shori of Japan with a ko-uchi-gari for ippon.
The second bronze medal contest was an all-German affair and it was Wagner who beat Ekaterinburg Grand Slam silver medallist Luise Malzahn. Wagner caught her teammate and 18-time Grand Prix medallist with an ouchi-gari for ippon as the latter failed to set a new record of 19 Grand Prix medals.

In the over 78kg heavyweight category, the lightest judoka in the category proved to be the best judoka as Olympic bronze medallist Anamari Velensek of Slovenia won the gold.

Openweight World Championships bronze medallist Nihel Cheikh Rouhou of Tunisia was drawn into unfamiliar territory on the ground by the agile Slovenian who locked on a juji-gatame for ippon. Velensek increased her Grand Prix gold medal tally to six while also providing her country with their third medal of the weekend.

In the first semi-final Velensek defeated Tbilisi Grand Prix silver medallist Maryna Slutskaya of Belarus by a waza-ari score to guarantee one more medal for the Slovenian delegation in Croatia. In the second semi-final former European champion Kayra Sayit of Turkey was held down by Cheikh Rouhou for ippon. The first bronze medal was awarded to Agadir Grand Prix winner Yelyzaveta Kalania of Ukraine as beaten semi-finalist Sayit could not compete due to a knee injury. The second bronze medal was won by Sarah Aashina of Japan who defeated Slutskaya.

In the men’s under 90kg category, former world champion Avtandili Tchrikishvili ended his barren run as he won all six of his contests to win his first medal since 2016.

The Georgian faced former world champion Asley Gonzalez of Cuba in the final and a waza-ari for the Georgian was enough at the end of the contest to earn his first medal in his sixth competition at this heavier weight.

In the first semi-final, the Cuban beat world champion Nemanja Majdov of Serbia The Serbian was shocked to receive a shido for a gripping infringement and lost his focus as the Cuban threw him for a waza-ari and held on with osaekomi to guarantee at least a silver medal. In the second semi-final, Paris Grand Slam bronze medallist Axel Clerget of France narrowly lost out to Tchrikishvili by a waza-ari score in a hard-fought contest.

The first bronze medal was won by Antalya Grand Prix bronze medallist Mammadali Mehdiyev of Azerbaijan who threw Clerget with 70 seconds left on the clock. After being locked together it was Mehdiyev who overpowered his opponent to win the opening contest in the final block. The second bronze medal went to Majdov who threw former Qingdao Grand Prix winner Max Stewart of Great Britain for a waza-ari and held down the Briton for a second and match-winning score.

Ekaterinburg Grand Slam winner Niyaz Ilyasov of Russia registered his first Grand Prix title as he beat three-time Grand Slam silver medallist Kyle Reyes of Canada in the under 100kg final. World number 95 Reyes, who has been plagued by injuries, was impressive in the preliminaries rounds but met his match in the final as the Canadian gave up two scores to the world number 14 who is a talent that Russia could fast-track to the World Championships later this year.

In the first semi-final, World Judo Masters bronze medallist Elkhan Mammadov of Azerbaijan was humbled by Reyes who scored ippon with a ko-uchi-gari in golden score. In the second semi-final Ilyasov defeated IIDA by ippon with a ko-soto-gari to book his place in the gold medal contest.
The first bronze medal was won by Japan’s Kentaro Ilda who beat Belgrade European cup silver medallist Danylo Hutsol of Ukraine. Ilda threw with an osoto-gari for ippon with exactly 90 seconds left in the contest as the Ukrainian finished a respectable fifth in his first appearance in the final block at an IJF event. The second bronze medal went to former Tbilisi European Open bronze medallist Lasha Taveluri of Georgia who trapped Mammadov in a pin for 20 seconds and ippon.

In the over 100kg category, Georgia’s Guram Tushishvili won his second Grand Prix gold medal this year after winning four of his five contests by ippon to boost his chances of his first world title in September.

The Tbilisi Grand Prix winner came up against Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Or Sasson of Israel in the final and raced past his opponent by ippon with an opportunistic tani-otoshi after 91 seconds.

In the first semi-final former world bronze medallist Yakiv Khammo of Ukraine was one of Tushishvili’s victims, being defeated by a waza-ari which was the only score in an entertaining contest. In the second semi-final Sasson benefited from an error-strewn showing by Pan American Championships bronze medallist Ruan Isquierdo of Brazil who was penalised three times to receive hansoku-make.

The first bronze medal was won by Antalya Grand Prix winner Inal Tasoev of Russia in just seven seconds as the highly-rated Russian launched Isquierdo with a gigantic sode for ippon. The second bronze medal went to Khammo who beat European Championships bronze medallist Stephan Hegyi of Austraia, Khammo breaking the deadlock with an osoto-makikomi for a waza-ari score and held down the young Austrian to seal his place on the podium.