Kenny Komi Bedel secured a third-place finish in the -90 kg category at the Zagreb Grand Prix on Sunday, OA Sport reported.
The 25-year-old Italian judoka collected three consecutive victories by ippon on the Croatian tatami before falling in the semifinals.
Brazilian competitor Guilherme Schimidt stopped Bedel’s run via an armlock after the Italian briefly took the lead with a waza-ari score. Bedel rebounded in the bronze medal match, defeating Belgian opponent Noah Christiaens by yuko during the Golden Score period.
The result marks Bedel’s first career Grand Prix podium finish, adding valuable points to his world and Olympic rankings. He previously earned two podium finishes at Grand Slam events.
Assunta Scutto anchored the Italian delegation’s success in Croatia by winning gold on the opening day in the lightweight division. The team concluded the tournament with two total podium finishes and three fifth-place results.
Jean Carletti reached the round of sixteen in the -100 kg division after securing one victory, while Tommaso Fava met the same fate in the +100 kg category.
Tiziana Marini and Erica Simonetti both exited the tournament in the opening round of the +78 kg division. The broader Italian delegation showed mixed results across the weekend’s weight classes.
International competitors shared the remaining medals across Sunday’s final weight divisions. In the women’s -78 kg category, Germany’s Hoelterhoff took gold ahead of Austria’s Dengg, with Venezuela’s Rodriguez and Great Britain’s Reid sharing bronze.
Brazil’s Souza claimed the women’s +78 kg title, followed by New Zealand’s Andrews in second and Portugal’s Nunes alongside France’s Fontaine in third. Ukraine’s Savytskiy topped the men’s -100 kg podium ahead of Hungary’s Veg, with Spain’s Sherazadishvili and Switzerland’s Eich taking bronze.
In the men’s +100 kg division, Azerbaijan’s Nasibov secured the gold medal. Germany’s Kone placed second, while Georgia’s Inaneishvili and Ukraine’s Balyevskyy rounded out the podium.
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