On day one, Hedvig Karakas led the way for what showed to be a golden weekend for the IPPON GEAR team as our team picked up three gold medals. As mentioned, Karakas of Hungary in -57 kg picked up the first one of them as she clinched the gold medal after having shown stunning and determined judo. This just shows where she belongs!
The next gold medal was won by Kathrin Unterwurzacher of Austria in the -63 kg category as she won her first medal in 2019. She went for the big throws in all her fights with huge determination. A remarkable performance by the Austrian and shows that she still got it in her! Keep up the good work, Kathi!
Also, in the same category, her teammate Magdalena Krssakova finished her day with a 7th place but we know she has more to give. These ladies are just two out of a very impressive Austrian team and Austria are spoiled for choice to have such two players to choose from when the Olympic selection comes around.
Another gold medal went to Austria’s -78 kg fighter, as Bernadette Graf once again made her way to the final. After having dominated the whole final match, she went for the IPPON and finished her Russian opponent and once again it is gold for Austria and a sixth gold medal for Graf on the World Tour! Keep it up!
Austria’s success in Tashkent saw no end as the boys wanted to get in on those medals as well. Shamil Borchashvili made his first appearance a year ago, finishing fifth last year in Tashkent and this year he captured his maiden Grand Prix medal. Amazing to see when hard work pays off! We are proud of you, Shamil!
The day after, his heavyweight teammate Stephan Hegyi in +100 kg added the fourth medal to the Austrians’ medal table as he won the bronze medal and he did so by not only showing strong but also clever judo. The Junior World Silver medallist picked up his fourth World Tour medal!
Belarusian Mikita Sviryd is a one of a kind IPPON chaser and gives the crowd some magnificent throws. Today was no different. He bounced through the preliminary rounds, found himself in the bronze medal match and earned himself the spot on the podium and his second Grand Prix medal.
Youngster Karla Prodan of Croatia recently won her first Grand Prix medal when she took bronze on home soil in Zagreb. This time, she could carry that momentum into the competition in Tashkent and finish with a bronze medal. Amazing to see that from a young player!
Another young player is Turkish Bilal Ciloglu, who was hungry for more after he finished 7th at the recent World Championships. The Junior World Champion went into the semi-finals, but after a golden score contest, he found himself in the bronze medal match. Ciloglu quickly recovered from his loss to throw his opponent twice in just under 2 minutes and clinched the bronze medal!
Sabrina Filzmoser reached another bronze medal match as well but sadly lost out on it and had to settle for 5th. But it’s just a matter of time until she’s back on that podium!
An amazing weekend for our team at the Grand Prix with a total of 8 medal: 3 golds and 5 bronze medals. Great to see so many of our athletes back chasing the IPPON and medals at the IJF World Circuit.
Photos: IJF
