On the French tatami the Italy of judo smiles. Al Grand Slam of Paris the blue team closed the opening day with a positive result: Manuel Lombardo is silver in the 73 kg, while the young Valerio Accogli – in the 66 kg – he stopped at the foot of the podium.
Lombardo’s path to silver
Lombardo (Army Sports Center) demonstrated enviable physical condition, managing moments of pressure with the coolness of a veteran and overcoming, in order, Schmidt (Germany), Gjakova (Kosovo) and Asadulloev (Tajikistan) in the quarter-finals. In the semi-final he beat the young British Levy with tactical clarity. In the final for gold the fearsome Makhmadbekov (United Arab Emirates) awaits him, who – after a minute – surprised Manuel by marking waza ari. The blue tried to press his opponent, but a second waza ari put an end to the match.
Another confirmation for Accogli
Another confirmation for the young Valerio Accogli (Carabinieri Sports Centre), who was able to replicate the good things shown in the previous stages of the World Judo Tour, overcoming Jazan (Israel), Yondonperenlei (Mongolia) and Yough (Great Britain) in order. However, in the quarter-finals the reigning world champion Takeoka (Japan) was stopped and managed to find the winning streak at the golden score which blocked the way for the Italian, who had been impeccable until then. In the recovery match Accogli maintained the right concentration and clarity against the Portuguese Gago, thus reaching the bronze medal final. Waiting for him was the Azerbaijani Pashayev, defending champion in Paris in the 2025 edition, who in the last seconds of the match scored a gaeshi rated yuko, which left Valerio at the foot of the podium.
The other results of the Azzurri
Little luck for the rest of the Italian team involved today (7 February), with some defeats in the preliminary rounds that leave a bad taste in the mouth. In the men’s field, Andrea Carlino (Cs Army) in the 60 kg, after overcoming Velasco (USA) and Kondo (Japan), surrendered to the young Asphiz (Israel). Giovanni Esposito (Fiamme Azzurre) in the 73 kg failed to beat the Hungarian Szegedi in the first round. Among the women, Kenya Perna (Fiamme Gialle) in the -52 kg and Carlotta Avanzato (Fiamme Oro) -63 kg, after having passed the first match, were stopped by the Brazilians Pimenta e Silva. Finally Susy Scutto (Fiamme Gialle) and Francesca Milani (Fiamme Oro) in the -48 were stopped in the first match.
The program for Sunday 8 February
The second and final day of competition will be on 8 February, which will see Alice Bellandi competing in the 78 kg, Irene Pedrotti in the 70, Gennaro Pirelli in the 100 and Tiziano Falcone in the 90. The competition is scheduled to start at 8 am and it will be possible to follow the entire event on judo.tv
