Luka Mkheidze, Maxime Gobert, and Léa Fontaine secured three bronze medals for the French judo team at the Zagreb tournament over the weekend, RMC Sport reported.
The competition served as an opportunity for judokas seeking to climb the world rankings. RMC Sport said that the tournament featured a mix of competitors, citing the under-73kg final where Ireland’s Jack Green and Georgia’s Giorgi Loladze faced off despite both ranking outside the top 50 globally.
France finished 20th in the overall medal table with its three bronzes. New Zealand placed higher in the standings, aided by Sydnee Andrews taking silver in the over-78kg division, according to RMC Sport.
RMC Sport reported that his technical execution included seoi-nage, sumi-gaeshi, and juji-gatame techniques before a semifinal loss to Chinese Taipei’s Yang Yung-wei.
“The little judoka from Flam 91 had not lost his scheme and his technical efficiency,” RMC Sport wrote of Mkheidze’s performance.
Fontaine entered the over-78kg draw as the top seed. She lost her semifinal to Olympic champion Beatriz Souza of Brazil on an uchi-mata counter before defeating Croatia’s Helena Vukovic for the bronze medal, RMC Sport reported. Her uchi-mata succeeded against Croatia’s Helena Vukovic, and she resisted the storm of the final two minutes.
Mkheidze previously remained on three consecutive defeats, comprising two in Lausanne and one in the first round of the Worlds against Russian Ayub Bliev.
Maxime Gobert took bronze in the under-73kg division after a busy autumn schedule that included team world championships and the Champions League. RMC Sport reported that he secured his third-place finish by defeating 21-year-old Nathan Cadignan using ne-waza. The member of the Génération Forces Spéciales participated in nearly all major events this autumn, including team world championships, the Champions League, and the European Team Championship.
Kaïla Issoufi placed fifth in the under-78kg category. RMC Sport said that the world championship silver medalist was still working back to her peak competitive rhythm following her previous success in Baku.
The international judo calendar concludes on December 5 and 6 with the Tokyo Grand Slam, marking the final major event of the year for athletes securing Masters qualification and seeding points. The monsters including the Abes, Sanshiro Murao, and Haruka Kaju will all be present.
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