-48 kg
Number one seed Maria Celia Laborde, perhaps the most experienced competitor in the category, began her day exactly as she planned, reaching the quarter-final without delay. However, there she met Laura Espadinha (FRA), a young French opponent with limited references on the World Judo Tour. This contest proved to be Laborde’s undoing, unable to find her rhythm at all. She couldn’t address this lack of momentum in the repechage either, losing out to Stojadinov (SRB) there to finish her day in 7th place.
Espadinha continued to the final, where she would meet Eva Perez Soler (ESP) in the second session of the day. Fast on her feet, Perez Soler had no easy contests but was committed to her cause and intelligent throughout. As the second seed, perhaps it was expected, but the confirmation is great evidence for the Spanish judoka ahead of her gold medal contest.
Chen-Hao Lin (TPE), the top fighter in pool D, held her seeding just as Perez Soler did, all the way to the semi-final, but there she lost out against the latter. She will compete for a bronze medal though, her first medal contest ever in a grand prix.
-60 kg
This category belonged to France today! Valadier Picard, the number one seed, and Enzo Jean, the number two seed, stamped all over the opposition to reach a final that guaranteed ‘La Marseillaise’ would be heard in the Zagreb Arena.
Twenty year old Ren Yokoi (JPN), present for his first international outing, tried to put a spanner in the works but his lack of experience was his Achilles heel. It was a slog for him to pass each round until he arrived at the semi-final. There he began better then in any other round, leading by a yuko, but Valadier Picard, a world medallist, had the right instinct, using it to throw for a waza-ari from an unlikely position. Yokoi would fight for bronze, still a great outcome for a first appearance.
Ignasiak didn’t make it past the first round but he has great potential and will be back for more in the future, no doubt, a great prospect. The 2022 junior European champion. He is already entered for the Tokyo Grand Slam in three weeks time, hunting for experience.
-52 kg
Reka Pupp (HUN), Olympic 5th place twice and world championship 5th place also twice, was seeded 3rd while her teammate, recent world medallist Rosa Gyertyas, was seeded second. This had the potential to create a Hungarian derby in the semi-final and that is exactly what happened! There, Pupp used a de-ashi-harai to destabilise Gyertyas (HUN) before applying an effective armlock to take the win comfortably and quickly. Gyertyas would fight for bronze while Pupp would face a very sharp Krasniqi (KOS) for gold.
Krasniqi arrived as the top seed and embodied this role perfectly, throwing Amanda Lima (BRA) and Blandine Pont (FRA) for ippon, with sasae-tsuri-komi-ashi and o-soto-gari respectively. She continued her dominance in the semi-final, seeing off a challenge from a young Italian, Gaia Stella. The 20 year old was junior European champion this year but Krasniqi was unimpressed. She threw with a tidy ko-uchi-gari before finishing on the floor; a clinical win.
Below is Distria Krasniqi's (KOS) dominant win over Pont (FRA).
-66 kg
All 4 of the top seeds reached the quarter-final stage of this category but one dropped out of the race there. Charlie Young (GBR) was no match for Boyan Yotov (BUL) who threw the Brit 3 times to secure his place in the first semi-final. He was then on the receiving end though as Elios Manzi (ITA) threw him three times to reach the final. Manzi’s footwork and great placement of seoi-otoshi attacks saw him through the draw with relative ease, a great performance in the morning session.
David Garcia Torne (ESP), atop pool C, and Bence Pongracz (HUN), the pool D seed, brought exciting judo to the Zagreb Arena; big throws, high energy and great commitment. Between them it was the Spanish judoka who came out on top, respecting the rankings perfectly. Pongracz could still reach the podium, needing to pass Miguel Gago (POR) in the final block to do so.
-57 kg
The two top seeds obeyed the hierarchy of the category, dispatching one opponent and then the next, mirroring one another all the way to the final. Marica Perisic (SRB) and Ana Viktorija Puljiz (CRO) had no hesitation when attacking in tachi-waza or ne-waza.
Notable performances came from Acelya Toprak (GBR), who arrived with an aggressive and committed style, dispatching 4th seed Ophelie Vellozzi (FRA) with relative ease in their quarter-final, and 19 year old Nika Tomc (SLO), who gathers momentum month on month, growing into the senior division admirably. She will fight for bronze in Zagreb, a tough battle between her and Toprak.
The final block will begin promptly at 5pm local time and can be followed live on JudoTV. Tune in to see all the action.