Men’s -90kg
Ivaylo Ivanov (BUL), who normally likes to use the Khabarelli throw proved his versatility by using a range of other throws – drop seoi-nage, drop tai-otoshi, hikikomi-gaeshi, drop kata-guruma and even some groundwork – to work his way to the final where he threw former World Champion Luka Maisuradze with tomoe-nage for waza-ari in Golden Score. It was a masterful performance.
The USA’s John Jayne nearly scored twice in his first match, against Novo Raicevic (MNE) but in the end, he was the first to receive three shidos and thus hansoku-make.
Women’s -78kg
The -78kg final was a battle of the imports, with Ukrainian-born Yelyzaveta Lytvynenko fighting for United Arab Emirates and German-born Marie Branser fighting for Guinea. It was a short final, with Lytvynenko throwing Branser with tani-otoshi for ippon in 34 seconds.
Men’s -100kg
Former double World Champion Nikoloz Sherazadishvili proved he’s still got what it takes, winning his ninth IJF World Tour title by defeating Oleksii Yerhov with drop seoi-nage for yuko. This is a rather unusual technique for such a big guy.
Women’s +78kg
It was an All-French final with Celia Cancan going up against Leonie Minkada-Caquineau. They obviously knew each other very well, which meant it was going to be a game of shidos. It was all over at just under three minutes when Minkada-Caquineau got her third shido, giving the gold to Cancan.
Men’s +100kg
Kanan Nasibov (AZE) was not highly ranked at No. 31 but he proved to be spectacular in this competition, winning all his matches by ippon, including the final where he threw Jur Spijkers (NED) with a massive kosoto-gake for ippon. This is 21-year old Nasibov’s first IJF World Tour gold medal.
