The second day of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam continued the momentum of day one.
Great Britain’s Lucy Renshall was in fine form, and earned our Woman of the Day. Taking on Sanne Vermeer in the final of the women’s under 63 kilogram category, Renshall went a score down, after some good footwork from the Dutch fighter.
But Renshall leveled the score with just 24 seconds remaining, thanks to a well timed Kosoto Gari. Going into the golden score Renshall attacked relentlessly, getting the decisive score with a finely timed drop technique.
Mr Obaid Al Anzi, Vice President of the IJF and President of the Judo Union of Asia, was on hand to award the medals.
Renshall was absolutely delighted as she took her third Grand Slam title of the year.
“Yeah I’m really happy, especially off the back of Baku. I was really confident coming into today, and obviously to end the year on a high is amazing, so yeah I’m happy!”
Olympic Bronze Medallist Tsend-Ochir Tsogtbaatar of Mongolia took gold in the men’s under 73 kilogram category. An Ura nage throw for Waza-ari, followed by some great groundwork, where he managed to turn and pin his Uzbek opponent Turaev Khikmatillokh and guaranteed the win.
After an already strong performance from the Mongolian team here in Abu Dhabi, Tsend-Ochir turned to his teammates, to celebrate their first gold of the tournament.
The medals were awarded by the Vice President of the IJF and African Judo Union President, Mr Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko.
In the women’s under 70kg category, it was Giovanna Scoccimarro who came out on top. A nice change of direction saw her score an impressive Waza-ari in golden score against Shiho Tanaka of Japan.
The young German was delighted to take her first ever Grand Slam Gold.
She was awarded the gold medal by Chairman of the UAE Wrestling and Judo Federation, H.E Mohamed Bin Thaeloub Alderee.
Our man of the day was reigning World Champion Matthias Casse of Belgium, who took on Russia’s Alan Khubetsov in the final.
Casse finished off his impressive year with one last Grand Slam gold. A well timed counter to the Russian’s explosive attack, saw him score the knock-out blow of Ippon.
Mr Paolo Naoni, Owner of Atena and partner of the IJF awarded Casse his gold.
“I’ve met Alan Khubetsov at the [Olympic] Games as well. I beat him there and there was a lot of tension I felt during the fight. And he was out for revenge which is normal. So it was difficult to find openings, he’s a very clever fighter as well, so I’m happy I found the way in the end.”
Our Move of the Day came from World Silver Medallist Andreja Leski. On her way to taking bronze in Abu Dhabi she executed a phenomenal throw.
An enormous hip attack launched her opponent Magadelena Krasakova through the air, landing her flat on her back for an emphatic Ippon.
Tomorrow marks the last day of the 2021 World Judo Tour Season. Catch the round up here on euronews.com!