Mascha Ballhaus put her opponent Ai Shishime under pressure from the start in the final. She took the lead by wazaari scoring for O-uchi-gari. The Hamburg native brought the lead over time and, after her fifth place two weeks ago in Tel Aviv, was able to celebrate her first Grand Slam victory this time. After bronze in Paris in 2021, it was her second medal on the IJF World Tour.
Ballhaus kicked things off by defeating Vietnam’s Thuy Nguyen at Tashkent’s Yunusobod Sport Complex, followed by an early victory in the quarter-fins against Paulina Martinez of Mexico. In the semifinals, she defeated China’s Yingwei Liu with a Wazaari rating.
Pauline Starke won the “small final” in the golden score overtime after 35 seconds with a Wazaari rating for O-soto-gari against Chen-Ling Lien from Chinese Taipei. The 25-year-old Hanoverian started the competition with an early win against Ngoc Diem Phuong Nguyen from Vietnam. In the quarterfinals she lost to Veronica Toniolo from Italy. A consolation round win over Great Britain’s Malin Wilson put Starke in contention for third place. For Starke it was her third Grand Slam medal.
Maximilian Standke from KSC Asahi Spremberg (up to 60 kg) failed in round two at Lukhumi Chkhvimiani from Georgia, world champion of 2019.
After defeats at the start, Vice World Champion Katharina Menz from TSG Backnang (up to 48 kg), Moritz Plafky from JC Hennef (up to 60 kg) and Lennart Slamberger from JC Leipzig (up to 66 kg) dropped out of the competition.
The German team ended the first day of competition with a gold and a bronze medal in second place behind Japan and ahead of South Korea.
On Saturday, Miriam Butkereit from SV Halle, Giovanna Scoccimarro from MTV Vorsfelde (both up to 70 kg), Michel Adam from JSV Speyer, Jano Rübo from SSF Bonn (both up to 73 kg) and Schamil Dzavbatyrov from TSV Großhadern (up to 81 kg) will go in Tashkent at the start. Battle starts at 11:00 (7:00 GMT).
TV times
Friday, March 3, 2023: 9:45 p.m. – 11:15 p.m. Eurosport 1 (recording)
Saturday, March 4, 2023: 9:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. Eurosport 1 (recording)
Sunday, March 5, 2023: 7:45 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Eurosport 1 (recording)
