An important Judo for Peace project was assisted on the second day of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam.
Twenty-one young Jewish and Muslim Israeli judokas, aged between twelve and seventeen, traveled to Abu Dhabi to demonstrate friendship and inclusion. An initiative to continue the relationship between the United Arab Emirates and Israel and to show the values of judo.
At -63kg, Britain’s Lucy Renshall made it through her preliminary rounds with beautiful judo all day, scoring one goal in each of her competitions before making it to the final.
In the final, Renshall performed a massive hip throw on Portuguese Barbara Timo to win her second Abu Dhabi Grand Slam gold medal! This earned her a fifth ever Grand Slam gold medal. An impressive display of judo.
HE Suhail Alareefi, Executive Director of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council Events Sector, presented the medals.
“_I love it here, I won my first Junior World Championships medal here, I won a bronze medal here and then two Grand Slam medals before this, so yeah, something good is going on here ._” he said a happy Lucy Renshall.
In the -73kg category, the elegant Swiss judoka Nils Stump showed his judo skills throughout the day. He throws all his opponents with the same technique, sasae-tsuri-komi-ashi.
In the final, Stump faced the Italian Giovanni Esposito and spectacularly won the gold medal for Switzerland; it was also his first gold medal in the World Judo Tour! A great day for him.
The -73 kg medals were presented by Mr. Oybek Kasimov, Secretary General of the Uzbek NOC.
At -70kg, Greece’s Elisavet Teltsidou had a fantastic morning as she worked her way to the final against Belgian Gabriella Willems, whom she defeated with a tactical victory.
The -70 kg medals were awarded by professional tennis player Mrs. Sorana Cîrstea
Frenchman Nicolas Chilard took gold at -81kg against Spaniard Jose Maria Mendiola Izquieta with an impressive assist coming from a clever choke.
The -81 kg medals were awarded by the head of the IJF sports director, Vladimir Barta
An amazing o-soto-gari from home crowd hero Nugzar Tatalashvili, Nugzar Tatalashvili was our time of day and sent the stadium into a frenzy! An incredible technique that inspired the audience and the young judokas who were watching.
After another incredible day, the future of judo in Abu Dhabi looks bright!
