Hosts Russia lead the medal trail at IJF Ekaterinburg Grand Slam

Ten countries finished with gold medals during the course of the three days of competition (15 to 17 March) at the Palace of Sports but it was the host nation who led the medal count at the close of proceedings by picking a total of three golds, two silver and three bronzes.

The official Opening Ceremony of the Ekaterinburg Grand Slam took place on Saturday 16 March with the Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region, Evgeny V. Kuyvashev, welcoming all athletes and fans stating that organising this Grand Slam has seen a growth in the number of judo participants in the region.
President of the Russian Judo Federation Vasiliy Anisimov welcomed all competitors to the Grand Slam in the capital of the Ural, whilst Vice-President of the International Judo Federation Sergey Soloveychik thanked the Governor, the Regional and Russian Judo Federation in name of IJF President Marius Vizer for all their efforts in staging this event.

Friday’s first day of action was highlighted by some familiar names coming away with medals in the women’s competitions and an unseeded Mongolian upstaging one of the Japanese favourites in the men’s competitions.

In the women’s -48kg category, Rio 2016 Olympic champion Paula Pareto of Argentina defeated Julia Figueroa of Spain in golden score to win her second Grand Slam title. The Argentine veteran marginally outworked her Spanish opponent who received her third shido in added time to hand the gold medal to Pareto.

Spain was also represented in the -52kg final but it was Israel’s Gili Cohen who won her second Grand Slam gold medal by defeating Ana Perez Box.The Spaniard was appearing in a Grand Slam final for the first time but Cohen floored her with a ko-uchi-gari for one of the best ippons on day one to take the gold medal.

Paris Grand Slam winner Christa Deguchi defeated Marrakech Grand Prix winner Chen-Ling Lien to win the -57kg gold medal. The Canadian pinned down Lien of Chinese Taipei for 20 seconds to seal her second Grand Slam title in as many months having won in the French capital in February.

Friday’s men’s action saw Unubold Lkhagvajamts of Mongolia won IJF World Judo Tour gold at his third attempt after beating Yuma Oshima of Japan in the -60kg final. The Mongolian, a former Junior World Championships bronze medallist, is ranked 169 in the world and unseeded but proved too strong for the experienced Japanese judoka who received his third and final shido in golden score for ducking under the grip of his opponent.

In the -66kg Final, Kilian Le Bouch topped an IJF Grand Slam medal podium for the first time at the expense of world number 130 Isa Isaev pf Russia who was unable to win gold for the hosts. Both judoka were in unchartered territory as they graced a Grand Slam final for the first time and it was the world number 46 from France who took the top honours by catching the home judoka with an o-uchi-gari for a waza-ari score.

Day Two on Saturday saw France, Russia, Israel and Sweden strike gold while Morocco and Tajikistan won their first Grand Slam honours.

Daria Davydova delighted the home fans by striking gold in the women’s -63kg Final. Her opponent, European Championships bronze medallist Lucy Renshall of Great Britain was also aiming for a first Grand Slam title, but was countered by the Russian with 50 seconds left on the clock with a ura-nage for ippon.

Marie Eve Gahie of France doubled her golden medal tally on the Grand Slam stage by defeating former world number one Maria Portela of Brazil in the -70kg final. Gahie, the world number one at this weight, pounced on the ground to trap the Brazilian who was unable to muster any form of escape as the seconds elapsed for France’s second gold in Russia.

In the men’s -73kg Final, Tommy Macias of Sweden upset the form book by beating Olympic champion Fabio Basile of Italy. The Swede showed off his ne-waza prowess by manoeuvring from a possible hold down to an armbar. The Italian, who lit up the preliminaries with his lethal ashi-waza putting himself as an early competition favourite, was denied a first IJF gold medal after tapping out using his left foot.

Israel’s Sagi Muki had the edge over former world champion Takanori Nagase of Japan in the -81kg final to win his third Grand Slam gold medal. Paris Grand Slam silver medallist Muki waited until the last minute before launching with a shoulder throw for a waza-ari with seven seconds left leaving world number 153 Nagase to settle for silver in his first outing for 2019.

Sunday’s third and final day saw a Grand Slam debutant provide Japan with first gold medal in Ekaterinburg.

Mao Izumi of Japan won her country’s first gold medal at the Ekaterinburg Grand Slam 2019 with victory in the -78kg final over Mayra Aguiar of Brazil. World number 67 Izumi submitted former world champion Aguiar with a strangle outside the area to deny the Brazilian double Olympic bronze medallist back-to-back Grand Slam gold medals.

There was better news for Brazil in the -78kg Final as Maria Suelen Altheman won her fifth Grand Slam gold medal with a determined display in the women’s heavyweight category. In an entertaining final, the two-time world silver medallist fended off Anne Fatoumata M Bairo of France in golden score with an o-uchi-gari.

After five losses in Grand Slam finals, Noel Van T End finally won Grand Slam gold at his 21st attempt as he defeated Beka Gviniashvili in the men’s -90kg final. The Dutchman had five Grand Slam silver medals to his name but after a highly-competitive opening four minutes finally landed the elusive gold medal by launching his Georgian adversary with an ippon seoi-nage.

The -100kg Final was an all-Russian affair as Arman Adamian and five-time world medallist Kirill Denisov put on a classic final in front of their home crowd. Adamian starred in the preliminaries with some devastating ippons and met a gritty veteran in Denisov with both men desperate to represent their country on the top of the medal podium. It turned out that the 22-year-old newcomer Adamian wrapped up gold in only his second Grand Slam appearance, scoring a waza-ari from a ura-nage.

There was also home success in the +100kg heavyweight category as Tamerlan Bashaev struck Grand Slam gold for the first time in his career. He defeated Olympic bronze medallist Or Sassoon in the closing seconds of their bout, dropping under his Israeli rival with his trademark seoi-nage for a waza-ari score with four seconds left on the clock to end the tournament on a high for the hosts.

The next IJF event takes place in Georgia with the Tbilisi Grand Prix being held from 29 to 31 March.