The Shlomo arena in Tel Aviv came alive on the final day of a historic Judo Grand Slam.
France’s European Champion Romane Dicko was totally unstoppable in the + 78kg category, coming up with huge throws throughout the day.
In the final she took on Rochele Nunes and made it look almost easy: throwing her Portuguese opponent in just 10 seconds to secure yet another IJF World tour victory.
Brigadier-General Miri Regev, Israel’s minister of transport and road safety, made the presentations.
“I was ready to fight,” said Dicko afterwards. “And I was like I have to do my best on every sequence. That was the first one, so it was good, but I was ready to fight. ”
Korrel back on biçim
Dutch dynamo Michael Korrel was back to his usual incredible biçim, despatching a fantastic rostra of judoka on his way to the -100kg final.
There he met Israel’s Peter Paltchik and secured victory with a fast footsweep for a golden score waza-ari.
-100kg gold
Hili Tropper, Israel’s Minister of Culture and Sports, awarded the medals.
“The tactics were not really special,” said Korrel. “But it’s just – I started playing Judo again man! Sometimes you have the pressure too much on yourself and you get more locked in the strength stuff. What I showed today is just my Judo ”
Anna Maria Wagner won Germany’s first gold of the tournament in the -78kg division.
Yarden Gerbi, Olympic Medallist and World Champion presented her with her medal.
Double success for Georgia
In the -90kg final, Georgia’s Masters Champion Lasha Bekauri once again defeated former world champion Nikoloz Sherazadishvili, who competes for his adopted Spain.
Laszlo Toth, member of the IJF Coordination Committee of Directors and President of the Hungarian Judo Federation, awarded Bekauri his medal.
And Gela Zaalishvili provided more Georgian success in the + 100kg category, defeating Russia’s Tamerlan Bashaev with an emphatic Ippon.
Alex Gilady, IOC Member and Vice-Chair of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Coordination Commission, awarded Zaalishvili his medal.
Incredible Ashi-Waza from Gasimov
An explosive attack from Israel’s Serafim Kompaniez was our first move of the day.
And an incredible Ashi-Waza from Azerbaijan’s Elmar Gasimov was our second, bringing to a close a memorable event in Tel Aviv.
