Day two of the Zagreb Grand Prix 2025 proved to be another strong showing for Europe across the four middleweight categories on stage: men’s –73kg and –81kg, and women’s –63kg and –70kg. The continent claimed 14 of the 16 medals available, including three of the four golds on offer.
–63kg category
Gili Sharir (ISR) is a familiar face on the IJF World Tour. An Olympic team bronze medallist from Tokyo 2021, a proven Olympian in her division, and a double European medallist, one might assume she already had several Grand Prix golds to her name. In reality, today marked her very first.
The opening final of the day saw Sharir face Angelika Szymanska (POL), the 2024 world silver medallist. It quickly turned into a tense shido battle, with Sharir emerging victorious just 20 seconds into golden score. Bronze medals went to Lucy Renshall (GBR) and Iva Oberan (CRO).
–73kg category
The Esposito family never stops entertaining, and this weekend Giovanni Esposito (ITA) lit up both the arena and the online audience. In the final he faced Anton Shuhalieiev (ESP). Both stepped onto the tatami with golden ambitions but Shuhalieiev’s hopes vanished almost immediately. A poorly executed seoi-otoshi attempt left an opening, and Esposito pounced, countering perfectly with a tightly controlled sumi-gaeshi for ippon. Only 15 seconds had elapsed since the referee called “Hajime!” and Esposito was already the 2025 Zagreb Grand Prix champion in his category. Bronze medals were won by Peter Jean (FRA) and Victor Skerlev (BUL).
–70kg category
Croatia boasts a formidable women’s –70kg line-up. At the Zagreb Grand Prix, world number one Lara Cvetko, her younger sister Jana, Andela Violic and Karla Kulic all stepped into the spotlight. Although Lara reached the final block, she missed out on the final itself and later settled for a fifth place finish.
The gold medal bout featured Clemence Eme (FRA) and current world champion Shiho Tanaka (JPN). The contest was far closer than many expected, with Tanaka needing six minutes to find the breakthrough. Her efforts on the ground yielded nothing, and the standing exchanges were evenly matched. Two minutes into golden score, a sharp hiza-guruma earned her the decisive waza-ari and the gold. Bronzes went to Irene Pedrotti (ITA) and Aleksandra Andric (SRB).
–81kg category
The final category of day two brought the Zagreb Arena to a thrilling close. The gold medal contest was a fascinating clash of styles: the flamboyant, unpredictable judo of Arnaud Aregba (FRA) versus the measured power of Bernd Fasching (AUT). Fasching struggled to contain Aregba’s creativity as the Frenchman scored early and continued attacking relentlessly from both sides, mixing uchi-mata, ko-uchi-gari and seoi-otoshi variations.
Eventually, an explosive o-uchi-gaeshi planted Aregba on top of Fasching, followed by a secure hold to seal a deserved and entertaining gold. Third place was shared by Antonio Esposito (ITA) and Naoto Izawa (JPN).
Following the conclusion of day two in Zagreb, France moved into the lead with two gold, three silver and one bronze. Spain dropped to second with 2–1–1, while Italy sits in third on 1–1–3. The final day will feature the heavyweight divisions. Catch all the action live on JudoTV.com.
Source & Images: IJF
Author: Szandra Szogedi