On the second day of the Judo Grand Slam in Baku, Azerbaijan, this Saturday, the Heydar Aliyev Stadium once again vibrated.
In -63 kg, Inbal Shemesh was in great shape. In the final, the powerful Israeli skillfully countered the Dutch Geke van den Berg to win her second Grand Slam title, after that of Tbilisi last March. Shemesh couldn’t contain his emotions.
The President of the International Judo Federation, Marius Vizer, presented the medals.
“I’m always full of emotions, Shemesh said. I really love what I do, and when it’s going this well, I can’t hold back, so it comes out on its own. I’m really, really happy.”
Hometown hero Hidayat Heydarov was on fire all day, delivering high quality moves. The Azerbaijani fought his way to the -73kg final with an impressive variety of techniques.
With the public behind him and in an atmosphere of madness, Heydarov won against Canadian Arthur Margelidon.
His medal was presented to him by the president of the Azerbaijani Judo Federation, Rashad Nabiyev.
“I managed to win this Baku Grand Slam once again, rejoiced Heydarov. And winning at home in front of such a passionate home crowd is something indescribable.”
In -70 kg the Olympic and world medalist, the Dutch Sanne van Dijke, beat the Belgian Gabriella Willems to pocket her third gold medal in Grand Slam.
It was presented to him by IJF Education and Coaching Director Mohammed Meridja.
In -81kg, Azerbaijani Saied Mollaei, local hero and Olympic silver medalist, won his first Grand Slam since 2018, bringing to three the number of gold medals won by Azerbaijan.
The medals were presented by IJF guest Cornel Varvara.
Continuing the momentum, the other members of the Azerbaijani squad gave the crowd plenty to cheer about, with incredible Ippons for both men and women.
Even before the last day, this Baku Grand Slam is already one of the most successful. A great way to celebrate 50 years of the Azerbaijani Judo Federation.
