Michaela Polleres, victorious in -70kg.
Photo credit: Emanuele Di Feliciantonio/IJF
The performance is striking. This Saturday, Austria, led by magician Yvonne Bönisch, head coach of the team since January 1, 2021, had an exceptional day: two titles in the two women’s categories of the day, for Lubjana Piovesana in -63kg and Michaela Polleres in -70kg, and a silver medal for Wachid Borchashvili in -81kg, only stopped by the always impressive Japanese -81kg Yoshito Hojo. Three podiums including two gold which put the team of the German Olympic champion from Athens in 2004 at the top of the ranking, perfectly tied with Switzerland which won a second title this Saturday with Nils Stump, its reigning world champion -73kg. Two unexpected countries in this first place, but which prove the quality of the work put in place by these two countries and their staff. Let us recall in addition to Stump’s world title, the two Austrian Olympic medals in Tokyo (silver for Polleres, bronze for Shamil Borchashvili in -81kg, Wachid’s brother).
Piovesana, a former British judoka, won with an ippon-seoi-nage to the left which put the Russian Dali Liluashvili on the left shoulder point. Enough for the Hungarian referee to give a waza-ari. Fifth in the European Championships in Zagreb, the Austrian -63kg won her second Grand Slam of the year there, after Baku. A great dynamic to watch. Note in this category the bronze medal of Algerian Amina Belkadi, three-time reigning African champion.
In -70kg, Polleres relies on her qualities as a blocker/punner to beat Croatian Lara Cvjetko in the final.
The bronze medalists, the British Kelly Petersen Pollard and the Hungarian Szabina Gercsak, were the scorers of the two French women in the category, Kaila Issoufi (Sainte Geneviève Sports Judo) and Florine Soula (Racing Club de France Judo).
A fate experienced by all the Blues involved this Saturday. A blank day for Mélodie Turpin (RAcing Club de France Judo), countered twice in less than forty seconds by the Georgian Eter Askilashvili, and Melkia Auchecorne (AS Chelles Judo), knocked to the ground by the German Dena Pohl, in -63kg .
In the higher category, Issoufi suffered two ko-uchi-gari from Petersen Pollard while Soula was surprised by the same technique by Gercsak.
Benjamin Axus (AJA Paris XX), the only male, lost against the Russian Azamat Kabisov on an o-soto-gari in the melee. A hardly obvious projection, as the Frenchman seems to have launched the first his ma-sutemi-waza.
A disappointing day on the French side, the opportunity to show oneself to one’s advantage being there on a Grand Slam at a more accessible level than many of those this year.
A Saturday marked, finally, by the second victory on the circuit of the Japanese Yoshito Hojo in -81kg. It was discovered in Portugal at the end of January. The success of the unknown driven by his qualities and his carefreeness? The Nichidai University student proves today that no, in particular with a work in ne-waza which allowed him to defeat the Russian David Karapetyan in the quarter-final and the Austrian Borchashvili in the final. His speciality ? A leg exit by fixing the shoulder girdle of his opponent while remaining above the latter’s body. Hojo’s record is certainly less impressive this Saturday than in Portugal. The fact remains that this Japanese judoka with his complete style is already taking his date for the next Olympics.
Tomorrow, Teddy Riner enters the fray around 9:50 a.m., with a possible semi-final against the Finnish 2023 European champion, Martti Puumalainen. Looking forward to tomorrow!
2024-05-04 18:14:46
#Dushanbe #Grand #Prix #Austrian #Saturday
