-52kg: Primo for a Second Grand Slam Victory

Opposite her to enter the final stood Gefen Primo and today, it must be said, that the Israeli judoka was a step above. Ready and incisive from the outset, she left no chance to Keldiyorova who quickly found herself on the ground. Ippon for Primo, with the key to a place in the final against one who was undeniably one of the favourites in the category, the French Amandine Buchard.

It is by reading all these names that one takes on the full dimension of the category. We are on the top level in the world. About Buchard, her first round allowed her to test her kata-guruma and her ippon-seoi-nage. She then won brilliantly ahead of Khorloodoi Bishrelt (UAE) and the Hungarian Reka Pupp in the semi-finals, serious and dangerous opponents that Buchard mastered perfectly. Primo vs Buchard promised to be full of suspense.

On one side we had the passion of Primo, while Buchard could offer her experience. Very active and on the move permanently, Primo bothered Buchard's tactics and was the first one to score with an opportunist’s yoko-guruma. It was her turn then to play tactics and she did it well, keeping her waza-ari alive until the final gong. It was a well deserved gold medal for Gefen Primo, the second one at that level of competition.

The first bronze medal contests opposed Sosorbaram Lkhagvasuren (MGL) and Reka Pupp (HUN). In golden score, as Pupp had anticipated the sasae attempts from Lkhagvasuren, she launched an uchi-mata for waza-ari and the bronze medal.

There was still a step to climb for Khorloodoi Bishrelt (UAE) and Diyora Keldiyorova (UZB) to get on the podium. She was waiting for the combination, seoi-juji-gatame. Keldiyorova tried it over and over again until it worked, after a very intense contest between two judoka who did not want to let it go. The bronze medal was for Diyora Keldiyorova today.