A Peaceful Success

From the first minutes of the 2022 edition of the Tel Aviv Grand Slam, taking place these three days in the vicinity of the great metropolis, we were able to verify that the public was present and indeed very happy to be back. Actually after the complicated months that the world of sport has gone through, rediscovering this atmosphere, as was the case in Portugal and France recently, warms the hearts of all sport lovers. From 11:00 in the morning, the stands were well stocked, to follow the performances of the Israeli athletes of course, but also those of competitors from the other 33 nations involved.

Before a first final block which promised to be explosive, invited by the IJF Director General Vlad Marinescu, the IJF President Mr Marius Vizer was joined on stage by the IJA President Moshe Ponte, for the presentation of the Judo for Peace prize. Judo, since its inception, has brought people together from different horizons without discrimination. In 2021 the Judo for Peace award was presented for an extraordinary display of judo values in the pursuit of unity and peace. After Saudi Arabia was awarded ten days ago in Paris, the Israel Judo Association also received their prize for their promotion of inclusion and non-discrimination, demonstrated by their participation at the Olympic Games in Tokyo with Ms Raz Hershko.

Before presenting the IJF Jigoro Kano Statue, hand made by the world famous Herend Porcelain manufacturer, Mr Vizer declared, "Distinguished guests and spectators, it is a great honour to be here in Tel Aviv in the beautiful country of Israel. Shalom. We have the honour of awarding the peace trophy to Mr Ponte and the Israeli Judo Association, who we have been working with for many years to promote our judo values. Thanks to that collaboration we have been able to achieve major steps like the first participation of Israeli athletes in Abu Dhabi and more recently the first match ever between Israel and Saudi Arabia, witnessed on the occasion of the Tokyo Olympic Games. Congratulations to Mr Ponte and the whole judo family of Israel. Through this award we show unity, friendship and we foster peace. Here we show harmony for future generations."

Then Moshe Ponte said, "We are honoured with this prize. Nothing would have been possible without Marius Vizer, who has been supporting us and peace itself throughout the years. Six years ago we began to compete in the United Arab Emerates and now we have peace between our two countries. We also began to compete in Morocco and now we are developing projects together. In Tokyo we competed together with Saudi Arabia. Once again it's a team effort together with the IJF and President Vizer."

The presidents were joined on stage by Mr Hili Tropper, Minister of Culture and Sport of Israel and Mr. Sylvan Adams, Philanthropist and main sponsor of the event for the opening ceremony.

After Moshe Ponte’s welcome speech, where he emphasised the work of all stakeholders to make this event a success, Mr Hili Tropper said, "The story of Israeli judo is a story of partnership and connections, of professionalism and endless efforts, of athletes who aspire, who fall and rise, who do not give up on dreams. There are great winners here. You bring a lot of joy to Israel. Your talent, teamwork, your coaches and especially your great spirit are your greatest assets. I would like to say to all athletes participating in the tournament that the State of Israel is very happy to host you and see you here today. Israel is a home for sport and especially judo. Welcome."

Mr. Sylvan Adams said, "I want to applaud this wonderful crowd. You are the heroes of the event. There are few places in the world where it's possible to have such an audience. It has become a tradition now to organise the Grand Slam at the highest level of competition. This is because of all of you and I want to applaud you. Let's have a fantastic competition as we always do. Let's get it on!”

Mr Marius Vizer said, "It is a great occasion to be here again to celebrate, in a difficult time, a grand slam, to celebrate the unity of the sport. Thanks to the government of Israel for supporting judo and sport in general. I wish you a successful competition. Thank you and I open the Tel Aviv Grand Slam."

Women's -48kg: Boukli for France Opens her Season With Gold

Although Shirine Boukli (FRA) was selected by her federation to take part in the Tokyo Olympics last year, no doubt she was not quite ready for the global level yet. From then on, each victory obtained on the circuit has been a step towards the Paris 2024 Games, which the judoka hopes will be more cheerful. Meanwhile, here in Tel Aviv, she qualified for the final, having knocked out Israeli Shira Rishony in the semi-finals. She still had to fight for the gold medal against Francesca Milani (ITA), who beat the two Serbians in the category in the elimination rounds.

Boukli seemed to be the first in action as she pushed her opponent to step out and get penalised for it. For her first competition of the year, the French judoka seemed to be in good form already. Half way through, the Italian was penalised a second time for passivity before Boukli engaged with an o-soto-gari for a clear waza-ari, registered as Milani landed on her side at an angle of 90°. Then Boukli just had to keep control, which she did without any problem to win the gold medal, the second in a row here in Tel Aviv.

The first match for the bronze medal saw Baasankhuu Bavuudorj (MGL), silver medallist in Paris less than two weeks ago, and Milica Nikolic (SRB) face off. As Nikolic was not able to compete, the bronze went to Baasankhuu Bavuudorj who steps on the podium for the second time in a row.

Julia Figueroa (ESP) and Shira Rishony (ISR) had four minutes to decide the second bronze medal. After a very close match where only shido applied, it took almost 4 minutes for Figueroa to execute a beautiful rotation and score with a superb seoi-nage to win the bronze. Israel will have to wait a bit longer for their first medal.

Men's -60kg: Lesiuk Concludes a Beautiful Day with the Gold

There was a big clear out in the -60kg category, since none of the favourites of the competition were found in the final. The first qualified athlete was Bauyrzhan Narbayev (KAZ), without reference on the World Judo Tour. In front of him stood a Ukrainian who placed seventh at the Tokyo Olympic Games, Artem Lesiuk.

The first strong action came from Artem Lesiuk with a powerful soto-makikomi but the landing was less than 90° and so there was no score. This was then a repetition in the next attack, this time scoring ippon to give the victory to Lesiuk, after what must be called a really beautiful day of judo.

The first match for a bronze medal was between Tornike Tsjakadoea (NED) and Tsogt-Ochir Byambajav (MGL), another really close match where neither athlete seemed able to find even the tiniest opportunity to throw, until almost two minutes into golden score. That's the moment Tsogt-Ochir Byambajav chose to drop under his opponent’s centre of gravity with a sumi-gaeshi that he controlled all the way through to waza-ari and a clean and clear victory.

In the second match for bronze, Magzhan Shamshadin (KAZ) and the number one seed Karamat Huseynov (AZE) faced off for a place on the podium. Huseynov was however unable to take part and so Shamshadin took the contest to win the bronze medal.

Women's -52kg: Astrid Gneto is the Boss

For her first international competition in 2022, the Hungarian Reka Pupp arrived as the top seed in the category. Holding her rank at the beginning of the competition, she passed the first two rounds with focus, before falling to Ryoko Takeda, one of the four Japanese representatives entered here in Tel Aviv. Although the latter was not among the favourites, the dynamism of her judo nevertheless offered a ticket to the final where she found one of the two Gneto sisters, the other being entered in the higher category. Astride Gneto indeed followed a faultless course through the preliminary rounds. Above all, by showing her power, she eliminated the favourite of the public, Gefen Primo (ISR), in the semi-finals, after a close match which was decided on penalties.

There was a big question before the final: would Gneto be able to control the ever-moving-and-jumping Japanese judoka, who so far won all her matches by imposing an impossible pace on her opponents. Clearly, as the bout started, the French judoka showed that she was the boss on the tatami. It was with a perfectly executed combination of ko-uchi to o-uchi-gari that Gneto won, propelling Takeda flat on her back for an indisputable ippon; a second gold for France.

The first match for a bronze medal was undecided between the double Olympic medallist, Odette Giuffrida (ITA) and Gefen Primo (ISR), who was no doubt dreaming of different metal here in Tel Aviv. The public assisted as a very tough kumi-kata battle ensued, where neither competitor seemed capable of imposing their grip enough to throw. Several sequences were on the verge of being penalised as especially Giuffrida was very close to attempting an attack across a straight arm. One minute into golden score and the Italian champion eventually dropped under her opponent with sode-tsuri-komi-goshi for a waza-ari. Odette Giuffrida is one of the most experienced competitors on the circuit, especially when it comes to tactics. Today, once again she proved to be a serious client for a medal, a bronze one in this case.

Disappointed by her failure in the semi-finals, the number one seed, Reka Pupp, was in the bronze medal match against Diyora Keldiyorova, who represents the future of women’s judo in Uzbekistan. With two shido each, the athletes started a new golden score. Diyora Keldiyorova seemed to take control after the first part of the match was led by Pupp. After only twelve seconds, the top seeded competitor negotiated a beautiful change in direction. After a missed attack on her knees from Keldiyorova, Pupp engaged an uchi-mata, immediately combined with o-uchi-gari in the other direction for ippon and a bronze medal.

Men's -66kg: Shmailov Makes the Public Explode with Joy

Israel participated in their first and only final of the day and their first of the tournament, with the qualification of Baruch Shmailov who ignited the public of the arena, particularly after his spectacular ippon in the semi-final against Gusman Kyrgyzbayev (Kaz). For one second, Shmailov, who countered his opponent, appeared to be flying in mid-air before landing to score ippon, but the most important step to climb still remained, against Yashar Najafov (AZE), who emerged from the depths of the draw and who also qualified for the final with some super-sharp and spectacular judo.

With both competitors being massive throwers, the public, which became so excited when Shmailov stepped on to the tatami, expected some spectacular judo to happen. Chanting, cheering as if there were dozens of thousands, the Israeli judo fans were definitely the third actor of the final and they were so happy when just at the beginning of golden score their hero tried a ko-soto-gari uncessfully, but like an acrobat he immediately followed with a superb turn-over for ippon. Initially a bit incredulous, Yashar Najafov had to accept his loss. The public exploded with joy. The first medal for the host country is a gold medal!

Bogdan Iadov (UKR) and Gusman Kyrgyzbayev (KAZ) still had a chance to win a medal in the first match for a bronze medal. With less than a minute to go, Bogdan Iadov scored a clean ippon with ko-soto-gake.

Discreetly but surely, Daikii Bouda (FRA), who finished at the foot of the podium in Paris two weeks ago, made his way through the competition to meet Kerlen Ganbold (MGL) for the second third place of the category but once again the French competitor finished at the foot of the podium via a third penalty in golden score. Bronze for Kerlen Ganbold!

Women's -57kg: Gneto Wins Tactically and Brings a Third Gold Medal to France

The -57kg category was so dense at the beginning of the competition, undoubtedly one of the toughest in the women's tournament as many athletes could, without hesitation, hope for laurels at the end of the day.

Certainly, Timna Nelson Levy (ISR) was the best placed. At home and already a winner of the tournament in the past, she had a small advantage, which however was not enough to win against the other Gneto of the tournament, Priscilla (FRA), bronze medallist at the London Olympic Games in 2012, who qualified for the final.

This was not the most spectacular final of the day, but what can be said, without a doubt, is that Gneto controlled the tactics perfectly to push her opponent to be penalised three times. The aim is to win by ippon but when this is not possible, then the tactics can play an important role and for sure the French women's team understood that. Imitating her younger sister with the gold medal around her neck, Priscilla won the third title of the day for the French team.

It should be noted that during the first rounds, Timna dispatched, in the most beautiful way, by a spectacular ippon, the 2016 Olympic champion, the Brazilian Rafaela Silva. To face Gneto in the final, it was eventually Eteri Liparteliani (GEO) who did the best after her victory against the second French judoka in the category, Faiza Mokdar.

The first bronze medal was to be decided between Rafaela Silva (BRA) and Faiza Mokdar (FRA). Coming back to your best level is a real challenge, one that Silva is now experiencing. Never in the position to really put her French opponent in danger, she was penalised three times, offering the bronze medal to young Mokdar. Defeating an Olympic champion will for sure remain an important step in her career, even if Silva is not yet back at her best.

Arleta Podolak (POL) has returned to the WJT final block after a few years of struggles but is more and more regular on the circuit again. For the bronze medal, she faced Timna Nelson Levy, who is a strong competitor, as everybody knows, but who also had the public on her side. Physically stronger than Podolak, Nelson Levy didn't really try to use her technique, but she did well with pushing the Polish competitor to be penalised. For today, that was enough to get a medal, which remains a good performance for her first major competition since the Olympic Games in Tokyo.