Running out of a place for Tokyo 2020 was a hard setback for Daniel Gavilán, but he did not give up, he made a clean slate with the aim of once again being among the best on the tatami. And, for now, he is displaying a high level, sneaking into the Top 4 in the world ranking. Since the Paralympic event in Japan, he has played five tournaments and has won five medals. His idyll with the podium continues after taking bronze at the Judo Grand Prix in Egypt.
At the Borj Al Arab Sports Hall in Alexandria, the judoka from Madrid once again confirmed that he is going through the best moment of his career, rubbing shoulders with substantial rivals in the J2 -60 kilos category. Just a year ago, with a gold at the Egyptian Pyramids International, a new stage began for him. Since then, he has always won a medal: bronzes in the World Cup and in the European Championship last year and in the Portuguese Grand Prix in February.
In Egyptian territory he was played in the first round by the Georgian Zurab Zurabiani, continental runner-up and with whom he had lost three times. This time, Gavilán ended the streak with a victory by wazari. In the next match he lost to the Uzbek Kemran Nurillaev, who five months ago competed in the Baku Grand Slam against sighted judokas and is number 40 in the IJF (International Judo Federation) ranking.
The Spanish athlete was able to redeem himself with three wins in the playoffs to access the medals. First he beat the Canadian Justin Karn by ippon, then the Chinese Xu Zhao also by ippon and in the duel for bronze he beat the Kazakh Anuar Sariyev in the gold technique by three sanctions.
“They have been very tough fights with very complicated rivals. This achievement is a reward for the work of each day. I feel very good at a sporting level and I try to show it in training and in competitions. We are going step by step and with our feet always on the ground”, Daniel Gavilán stressed.
The other two Spanish representatives have had less luck. Sergio Ibáñez, silver medalist at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, lost in his debut against the German Nikolai Kornhass in J2 -73 kilos, while Marta Arce from Valladolid, who won silver in the previous Grand Prix, reaped two losses in J2 -57kg against the Kazakh Dayana Fedossova and the Chinese Shuming Lin. María Manzanero from Madrid still has to compete in J1 -57 kilos, who will face Argentina’s Paula Karina Gómez.
