So it was Van Dijk who found himself in the semi-final against a youngster who has been on the rise for a few years. Peter Safrany was junior world champion in 2021 and a finalist again at the junior worlds in 2022. His first big performance among the seniors came in 2023 by placing 3rd at the Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam. Since then, Safrany has been looking for a first significant result. Grand Prix Zagreb 2024 may provide it. In the semi-final, he left no chance for Van Dijk, qualifying for a first final on the World Judo Tour.
Third at the Upper Austria Grand Prix 2023, Marcelo Fronckowiak (BRA) qualified for the semi-final where he met the Korean Sungho Lee. Having had a flawless run so far, they were separated in favour of Marcelo Fronckowiak. The final match was therefore Peter Safrany against Marcelo Fronckowiak.
The final was intense and uncertain, giving the feeling that it could go either way. There were attacks and counter-attacks, which were then countered again. Golden score was approaching fast but with only 2 seconds on the clock Peter Safrany caught his opponent with an immobilisation for ippon. Peter Safrany wins his first gold medal on the World Judo Tour. This is a name we will see again.
Akaki Japaridze (GEO) and Sungho Lee (KOR) faced each other for the first bronze medal. After a very tough battle to get the grip and a few shido distributed the two judoka entered the golden score phase to determine the winner. When Lee blocked the leg of his opponent once more while still being in tachi-waza, he was penalised logically a third time giving the victory to Akaki Japaridze.
We found Giorgi Jabniashvili (GEO) and Mark Van Dijk (NED) in the second match for a bronze medal. Jabniashvili couldn't replicate his teammate's performance from the previous medal contest and had to bow out to Mark Van Dijk who scored in the golden score period with a seoi-otoshi that caught Jabniashvili off guard.
Final (-90 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-90 kg)
