Lukas Krpalek once again showed how strong he is in the +100 kg by picking up a silver medal at the Grand Slam. After beating Olympic bronze medalist Or Sasson in the semi-final, he lost out in the final within a few seconds.
The Czech Olympic Champion tried to overcome his Russian opponent within the first seconds of the match and landed on his back. A mistake that won't stop Krpalek, it will only make him stronger on his Road to Tokyo 2020.
Also, Peter Paltchik in -100 kg showed what he is made of as he took home the gold and was able to stand on top of the podium to have the Israeli national anthem in the background which was a huge statement and important moment for both him and his country, that was not allowed to compete under their own flag last year.
Also European Champion Muki Sagi was able to bring home the Gold for Israel under 81 kg.
Furthermore, Krisztian Toth placed second after narrowly losing out in the final. He started his day out by beating three-time European Champion from Georgia and from there he made his way to the final.
Also, Belgian youngster Matthias Casse once again made his way through a tough category in -81 kg to finish on the podium with a silver medal. He beat the current World Champion in the semi-final on just 34 seconds and we cannot wait to see more from this guy.
Further, Austrian Michaela Polleres followed up her first Grand Prix gold from two weeks ago with her first Grand Slam medal by finishing her day with a bronze medal in the -70 kg.
Another youngster who showed he belongs to the top of the world was Jorre Verstraeten, who finished outside the podium with a fifth place. But the young Belgian is moving up in his category -60 kg. Another lightweight also finished fifth. It was Eva Csernoviczki in -48 kg from Hungary.
Both Anna Maria Wagner in -78 kg and Martina Trajdos in -63 kg finished their day just outside the podium on fifth places as well. But we know what they are capable of and look forward to seeing them back on the podium next time!
Finally, Aaron Fara (AUT), Lauren Böhler (AUT), Jaromir Musil (CZE) and Magdalena Krssakova (AUT) finished their days on 7th places.
All in all a successful Grand Slam for IPPON GEAR and a lot of points in the bag for the athletes towards Tokyo 2020. The IJF World Tour continues in 2 weeks at the Grand Prix in Tashkent.
This weekend we will see the U23 Championships in Györ (HUN).
