-73 kg: Cano Garcia and Dris Both do the Impossible

At the start of the day Spain’s Jorge Cano Garcia was ranked 136 in the world and this was only his 6th IJF World Tour event. The 27-year-old’s best result was a 7th place at the Tashkent Grand Prix way back in 2018. Today was the day when everything clicked.

The Spaniard started his day with a comfortable win over Nazarov (TKM), scoring two waza-aris in 70 seconds, first with ippon-seoi-nage and later with tomoe-nage. Against Green (IRL) in round 2, he produced another two waza-ari scores in quick succession; a turnover into kuzure-kesa-gatame followed another scoring ippon-seoi-nage. A tactical win was necessary in round 3 over 2023 Qasaqstan Barysy Grand Slam silver medallist Stodolski (POL), and another wicked tomoe-nage which scored waza-ari just 8 seconds into his quarter-final with Abdurakhmanov (KAZ) was enough to send him through to meet Hristov.

The two fighters were well-matched, with both looking for a way into their attacks. Hristov came closest to scoring early on with an o-soto-gari attempt at the beginning of the third minute but at the three-minute mark, the Bulgarian tried the same attack and Cano Garcia managed to get in behind, picking up his opponent and hurtling him backwards with ura-nage for a spectacular ippon. The Spaniard couldn’t contain his delight at securing a first major medal.

On the opposite side of the draw, the number 2 seed, 21-year-old Messaoud Redouane Dris (ALG), was also taking the category by storm. The 2022 African champion first came to prominence after his impressive 7th place finish at the Doha World Championships back in May, which included a great win over the incumbent world champion, Tsend-ochir (MGL).

In Zagreb his first encounter was against Nasirovs (LAT), whom he turned over and held with kata-gatame for ippon in under a minute. Round 3 saw him take on Canada’s Hachemi, where he went down a waza-ari after a surprise dropping attack from his opponent. Dris responded in style, however, chasing Hachemi down and levelling the score with soto-makikomi. In the next exchange he finished the job, applying a strong okuri-eri-jime to submit his adversary. A sound tactical win over Demirel (TUR) put him squarely into the semi-final.

Akil Gjakova (KOS) would face Dris for a place in the final. The Kosovan was himself in blistering form, throwing multiple opponents with his unusual hiza-guruma- yoko-gake-style techniques. It was a match worthy of the final; both athletes gave everything they had in search of a score, neither content to look for penalties for the other. The fight went to golden score, with Dris maintaining a relentless pace, which saw Gjakova tire quicker than his opponent. After more than 10 minutes of fighting and with the Algerian taking a dominant grip, he took advantage of a weak attack from the Kosovan and launched him through the air with o-soto-gaeshi for a thunderous ippon. Dris roared with joy and relief; he too had guaranteed a first major medal.

The first bronze medal match saw Abdurakhmanov take on Gjakova. The Kazakh stunned his opponent in the first minute with a perfectly-timed okuri-ashi-harai which scored waza-ari. From then on, he was on the back foot, with Gjakova chasing the score and despite picking up two penalties each, Abdurakhmanov saw out the contest and earned himself a bronze medal, one that will catapult him up the world rankings; he started the day as the world number 314.

The second bronze medal contest was between Hristov and Martin Hojak (SLO), who had also displayed plenty of good judo throughout the day and had defeated Demirel in their repechage match. Hojak didn’t let his adversary settle into the match, throwing him with an 'arm-wrap' tani-otoshi for waza-ari, before holding him with tate-shiho-gatame to finish the match in just 68 seconds. The Slovenian earned his 3rd grand prix bronze medal in style.

With a gold medal on the line, Cano Garcia and Dris were both much more cautious in the opening minutes of the final, with only one attack from the Spaniard coming close to scoring. This was until 90 seconds remained when, out of nowhere, Cano Garcia sprung to life with an off-the-grip o-soto-gari using two sleeves, chopping Dris to the ground and scoring a brilliant ippon. Cano Garcia’s first World Judo Tour medal is a thoroughly deserved gold after a near-flawless performance. Could this be the beginning of a last-minute challenge for an Olympic spot?