IPPON GEAR was part of the World Championships for the first time. Lots of young athletes were competing in IPPON GEAR uniforms, lots came close to the podium but at the end it was a lesson to learn on the we to chase our common dream, the Olympics in Tokyo 2020.
Larisa Ceric from Bosnia-Herzegovina competed on day 7 of the competition in the -78 kg category. The Ekaterinburg Grand Slam winner and Vice European Champion showed huge judo as she went through the preliminaries winning all her fights with ippon against strong opponents. In the semi-final, she suffered a defeat from the later World Champion from Japan but went on to fight in the bronze medal match, she won against multiple Grand Prix medal winner Sarah Adlington and she could end her day on the podium. This was Ceric’ second World Championships medal and it showcased her abilities.
Also, on day 7 we saw Ippon Gear athlete Lukas Krpalek fight in the +100 kg category. The European Champion from Czech Republic was on a run the whole day until the quarterfinal where he was defeated by home favorite Ushangi Kokauri even after having a wazaari on the board. He went on to win the repechage fight but narrowly lost out in golden score in the fight for bronze. Nevertheless, the Olympic Champion showed amazing judo all day and shows his big potential. We is definitely in the mix for the hot spots in Tokyo.
Another crowd favorite Krisztian Toth saw the bronze medal slip out of his fingers and ended up on a 5th place. Both his semi-final match saw huge throwing attempts but also his bronze medal match was decided in golden score after both players had a wazaari each where Toth displayed his amazing throwing skills.
Last year’s silver medallist in the -70 kg Maria Perez fell short of the medals as she finished fifth. As always, she showed her amazing techniques that consist of big and explosive throws.
Also, multiple Grand Slam winner Martyna Trajdos of Germany fought her way to the bronze medal match in -63 kg where she narrowly lost out in match that went into golden score.
Mikhail Puliaev is a three-time World Championships silver medallist and showed good judo all day but landed right outside the medal matches and finishing with a 7th place.
Matthias Casse of Belgium also managed to place 7th in his first year of being a senior. He showed his Ippon judo and that he can mix it with the elite. The future is bright for this Ippon Gear youngster, 100% sure.
Another, 7th place was for Austrian Kathrin Unterwurzacher in -63 kg who made her comeback from an injury on the World Championships stage. She beat strong opponents and showed that even after being out for a long time she can win on the highest level and we cannot wait to see what happens in the next two years.
The Tajikistan fighter Komronshokh Ustopiriyon won his preliminary fights showcasing his ippon judo and ended up on a 7thplace.
Also, in +78 kg there was a 7th place for Ivana Maranic from Croatia who collected important points for the Olympic Qualification.
One medal at Ippon Gear's first World Championships, looking at the overall results, we expected more, of course. We take it as a lesson, lots of IPPON GEAR athletes are young and hungry. We can feel with them and are even more excited to take on their journey to the Olympics.
WE ARE READY FOR THE FUTURE!
