At -90 kg, the new but very familiar face of Tato Grigalashvili appeared on tatami 1 and was immediately under pressure from those more used to the category. Herbier (FRA) countered him for a yuko with only 40 seconds to go in an otherwise close fight and the Georgian -81 kg world champion appeared to be out of energy and ideas to chase it.
He did though, countering right back and earning his own yuko. With one score apiece they went into golden score and there Tato dug deep to find enough energy to out-attack the Frenchman and forced him to take 3 penalties. It was a close call but experience and the champion’s mentality won in the end.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the arena, Toma Nikiforov (BEL), also in his new weight category at +100 kg, found himself at the wrong end of a seoi-otoshi right on the bell, losing out to Giannis Antoniou (CYP) who had already beaten Buzacarini (BRA) in round one. World champion and Olympic medallist at -100 kg Muzaffarbek Turoboyev (UZB) also suffered an unexpected defeat, albeit in a new, heavier weight group, thrown by Movli Borchashvili for a single yuko which he couldn’t get back. Tushishvili, in pole position at the beginning of the day, then dealt with the Austrian to meet Antoniou in their quarter-final, one the Cypriot lost.
Double Olympic champion, Czech superstar Lukas Krpalek, kept a vice-like grip on his half of the draw. Seeded second, he had the aim of reaching the final, potentially to meet Tushishvili and in the end that is exactly what happened. No-one pushed Krpalek too hard, his ne-waza, as always, giving him an extra edge.
The heavyweight women’s category didn’t start with the same superstar status on show as the men’s but that didn’t stop the judoka from raising their game and delivering seom spectacular judo. The French women, as is often the case, placed themselves firmly in the final, both throwing and managing fights expertly.
18-year-old Celia Cancan, both a cadet and junior world medallist, ripped through her half of the draw like veteran of the World Judo Tour; it was impressive. She threw number two seed Milica Zabic for ippon before throwing Miki Mukunoki (JPN) for two yuko scores. Cancan’s o-uchi-gari was on point in Linz!
On the other side of the +78 kg draw, Grace-Esther Mienandi Lohou (FRA) was also upsetting the status quo. Drawn in Hilal Ozturk’s (TUR) pool, pool A, she arrived at the quarter-final expecting to find the Turkish number one seed in front of her but she had been beaten by an outsider, Bouvier of Belgium. The French powerhouse, still a junior, didn’t seem to mind who she faced and bowled each over with strong technique and a commitment to the cause. She beat Bouvier compfortably before also throwing Sweers (NED) to reach the final.
Catching up with how Tato Grigalashvili fared after his first difficult fight, it would seem he found his rhythm. Tokumochi (JPN) and Scharfetter (AUT) were made to relinquish their hopes of gold and then in the semi-final the Georgian passed Miljan Radulj (SRB). Tato’s teammate, Giorgi Jabniashvili had high hopes of making it an all-Georgian final and a seoi-otoshi sealed the deal against Fronckowiak (BRA) in the semi-final.
Moving on to the -100 kg category, we found only one of the top 4 seeds in the semi-finals but none in the final. Two men with great careers at -90 kg, dominated the -100’s. Krisztian Toth (HUN), Olympic medallist, double world medallist and 33 times a World Judo Tour medallist, and Ivan Felipe Silva Morales (CUB), a world medallist, 19 times a World Judo Tour medallist and 6 times Panamerican champion worked very hard to dominate their new group. Savitskiy (UKR), Sharkhan (KAZ), Catharina (NED) and Goncalves (BRA) all fell during the day.
In the women’s -78 kg category there was a different story. Three of the 4 top seeds reached the semi-final stage, only Branser (GUI) dropping out of the race, beaten by Julie Hoelterhoff (GER) in the pool D final. The German couldn’t go all the way though as Kurchenko (UKR) and Reid (GBR) obeyed their seeding fully and as the number one and number 2 in the group, they gave no chances to any others. They made their way to the final, perhaps to be expected but even with expectation there must be work! They worked!
The scene was set for a vibrant last final block of the 2025 Upper Austria Grand Prix, due to begin at 5pm local time. Follow all the action and see which nation wins in the final medal tally by tuning in to JudoTV.com.