-𝟲𝟯𝗸𝗴 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗱: 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝘃𝗮 (𝗕𝗥𝗔)
Olympic and double World Champion Rafaela Silva (BRA) may be 33 years old but she has shown that she has shown in recent performances that she is still in peak form. She started off magnificently, throwing Raffaella Lelia Ciano (ITA) with a massive tani-otoshi for ippon. Next, she threw Yoana Manova (BUL) with uchimata for yuko and kouchi-gaeshi for ippon. She also threw her semifinal opponent, Laura Vazquez Fernandez (ESP), twice. First, osoto-gari for waza-ari. Then, a massive, crowd-pleasing ura-nage for ippon in the dying seconds of the match. Her final opponent was the hardest for her and the only one she couldn’t score an ippon on. She threw Laura Fazliu (KOS) with a wrong-leg tai-otoshi for yuko and held on to her lead til the end, to secure her 11th IJF World Tour gold medal.
-𝟳𝟯𝗸𝗴 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗱: 𝗡𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗻𝗲 (𝗚𝗕𝗥)
Ethan Nairne (GBR) threw Aaron Szabo (HUN) with sumi-gaeshi off the ground for yuko. He suffered a bit of shock when Adil Osmanov (MDA) threw him with drop sode in the first 20 seconds for waza-ari. But he came back with a Mollaei-style reverse kata-guruma for ippon. He used the exact same technique to score ippon against Rober Klacar (CRO). A yuko from a foot-sweep in Golden Score against former Olympic Champion Fabio Basile (ITA) swept him into the semifinal. There, he had another Golden Score win, throwing Daniel Cargnin (BRA) for yuko with uchimata. His final match, against Bilal Ciloglu (TUR) also went into Golden Score and was also settled by a yuko, but this time from osoto-gari. This is his first IJF World Tour gold medal.
-𝟳𝟬𝗸𝗴 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗱: 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀 (𝗔𝗨𝗧)
Michaela Polleres (AUT) gave the home crowd something to celebrate. She won her first match, against Anna Skalska (CZE) with an ouchi-gaeshi for yuko. Then, she used soto-makikomi to score waza-ari for a win against Barbara Timo (POR). She defeated Kelly Petersen Pollard (GBR) with an uchimata for yuko and a Tewaza for waza-ari. Her first ippon of the day was against Samira Bock (GER) from kosoto. Her final match, against April Lynn Fohouo (SUI), was also decided by ippon, from a wrong-leg tai-otoshi in Golden Score.
-𝟴𝟭𝗸𝗴 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗱: 𝗔𝗹𝗺𝗮𝘁 (𝗞𝗔𝗭)
Adilet Almat (KAZ) threw Ciprian Gribinet (MDA) with a dynamic drop kata-guruma for ippon in 10 seconds. In contrast, his next match, against Gabriel Falcao (BRA), dragged on into Golden Score but within seconds he scored ippon with an unorthodox tomoe-nage. His match against Saad Dikajev (EST) was heading into Golden Score when in the dying seconds of regular time, he scored with side sacrifice throw for ippon. His unorthodox tomoe-nage gave him a yuko win against Omar Rajabli (AZE). In the semifinal, Vasilije Grujicic (SRB) scored first, with a counter against a sloppy uchimata which scored yuko in the first 20 seconds. But then, Almat scored back with his superb drop kata-guurma for ippon, even before the first minute was over. In the final, against Vusal Galandarzade (AZE), another sloppy uchimata resulted in an ura-nage counter for yuko. Almat scored waza-ari with sumi-gaeshi and immediately clamped on a hold-down. His opponent tapped out as he was injured in the throw. This is Almat’s first IJF gold medal.
