"First of all I want to say that I am very happy to see Marusa Stangar's bronze medal, for what her sister is experiencing. It is a reward for the work and sacrifice of a whole family. In addition, she has deserved the medal, being a very difficult judoka to throw. She lost only to Munkhbat, who is in exceptional shape. Interestingly, the technique that allowed Stangar to win her quarter-final, sankaku-jime, was the one that Munkhbat used to win. They are both excellent on the ground but Munkhbat does it better and has a lot of experience with how and when to engage in ne-waza.
I really liked the Italian Francesca Milani. She is very strong, mastering the kumi -kata very well; it will be interesting to observe her career.
I must talk about the Spanish women. Frankly, I liked the contest between Laura and Julia at -48kg; very clean and with constant attacks from both sides. In the end someone had to win and it was Julia today.
At -52kg Giuffrida confirmed her status as a big favourite. Her toughest fight was against the Russian Polikarpova. She has fought with very solid judo and has resolved her semi-final against the Georgian with her favourite move, the o-uchi-gari. Her technical skills are exquisite.
Giles is an interesting case. She is difficult to catch because she is very tall and does not make mistakes. Tactically she is very good and she has good ne-waza.
It was a very tactical -52kg final; not the most beautiful but a real pleasure for experts. Giuffrida won because she produced more attacks.
I also want to talk about Christa Deguchi (CAN). She was the clear favourite in the -57kg group, but everything can happen in judo. She had a good day, showing part of her enormous potential and I think it was good preparation for her series of matches with Klimkait that will decide which of the two go to the Olympic Games.
As for men, I want to highlight the Georgians Temur Nozadze and Vazha Margvelashvili. Nozadze first; he is very strong and very brave, like any Georgian but I liked what he did. Both he and the Uzbek Nurillaev deserved to be in the final.
I also have a soft spot for Margvelashvili. He is spectacular, throwing on both sides. He can practise classic judo and do very different things and I love it. He has beaten Vieru, who for me is a judo magician, incarnated elegance and that means a lot. Margvelashvili lost very fast in the final, to an explosive onslaught from the Uzbek, but it doesn’t take away from his performance overall."