The sport of judo is a guest in Linz. It’s time for day 2 of the Upper Austria Grand Slam. Before the competitions, Franz Haugeneder, the former president of the Austrian Judo Association, was honored for his contribution to the development of the sport of judo.
In the 63kg weight class, current world number 11 Joanne van Lieshout showed excellent endurance to bring her opponent Agatha Schmidt to the ground and defeat her with an ippon.
She won her second gold medal at the Grand Prix. An impressive result for the Dutchwoman, who was visibly happy about the honor: “It’s really great, there are a lot of people here, a lot of children and they like judo, it’s really nice to be here.”
In the up to 73 kg class, two medalists from last year’s Grand Slam in Linz fought again for gold: the Moldovan Adil Osmanov, who improved from his bronze medal from 2023 to his first gold on the World Judo Tour with two Waza-ari scores. While Rashid Mammadaliyev from Azerbaijan had to settle for silver again.
Osmanov explained afterwards that the fight was “psychologically difficult.” “I’m half Azerbaijani, my opponent is also from Azerbaijan,” but outside of the competition they are “good friends.”
In the weight class up to 70 kg it was Maria Perez, last year’s winner from Linz. And she made it to the final again. In a tough fight against newcomer Irene Pedrotti, Perez ended the golden score with an ippon with a perfectly timed foot sweep.
In the 81 kg class, Antonio Esposito won against Pawel Drzymal with a buzzer beater in the last seconds of the very last fight.
2024-03-10 00:22:38
#Linz #loves #judo #Grand #Slam #Upper #Austria
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