The third and final day of the Hungary World Judo Masters couldn’t have ended any better from a European perspective. Georgia, France, Israel, and Finland celebrated Masters titles. Apart from Japan (undisputed number one in the medal standings with 11 medals, four of them gold), once again, the EJU nations dominated the competition. Among the top 10, there were no fewer than seven European countries, led by France (2-3-3), Georgia (1-1-4), and Israel (1-1-1).
Lasha BEKAURI (GEO) opened the triumphant Sunday. The Olympic champion corrected the intra-Georgian ranking in the -90 kg category. The 23-year-old, currently ranked number 7 in the world, defeated world champion Luka MAISURADZE with an Ippon in the rematch of the Doha World Championship final. As in Doha, the duel between the two compatriots went into Golden Score, but this time it lasted comparatively “only” 5:22 minutes (compared to 6:12 minutes in the World Championship), before the third Shido and Hansoku-make (disqualification) brought the final decision. In the third final between the two this year, it was the second victory for the Olympic champion (after his success at the home Grand Slam in Tbilisi). “I felt much better physically than at the Doha World Championship, and my tactics were much improved. My second Masters title shows that I can defeat anyone on a good day. The path to Paris is on track, and my performance is on the rise. I am number one,” said Bekauri.
In the women’s heavyweight (+78) category, there was another team internal final between two French athletes, Julia TOLOFUA and Romane DICKO. As expected, Olympic team champion and former world champion Dicko came out on top, celebrating her third victory against Tolofua in their third (international) encounter. For the 23-year-old, it was the third consecutive Masters title. “It took me longer to recover from the second-round exit in Doha. I have trained extremely hard in the last few months, and it feels good that it has paid off. I can be really satisfied with today, and tomorrow I am finally flying to Seoul for vacation…”
Remaining undefeated since mid-March is Inbar LANIR (ISR/-78). After the World Championship and the Grand Slam in Ulaanbaatar, the Masters was the third international tournament in a row, where the 23-year-old clinched the gold, and not just that: Lanir secured victory after victory by Ippon, needing only a total of 1:49 minutes for her matches. “You could say from the result and the way the fights went, it was a perfect day. I am not the type to wait and strategize. I want to throw my opponents with Ippon. It’s risky, but when it works, it’s really fun,” beamed the world’s second-ranked judoka. “Today, I didn’t feel very well. I’m quite exhausted from the intense training of the last few months. But I guess the others feel the same.” As a reward for the Masters title, along with 1,800 points for the world ranking, she added, “I now get two more days off, so a total of four days. We had agreed on that beforehand.”
The fourth European Masters gold medal on the third and final competition day was secured by the sensational Martti PUUMALAINEN (FIN). Ranked 16th in the world and 7th at the Budapest 2021 World Championships, he claimed the first male Finnish gold medal on the IJF World Tour. “And to achieve it at the Masters, perhaps the toughest judo tournament in the world. In the heavyweight category, only Teddy Riner was missing this time, everyone else was here.” The 26-year-old had a premonition: “On Saturday, I already said that today in Budapest, I can defeat not just one or two top athletes, but a whole bunch of them. And that’s exactly what happened. It makes me incredibly proud. We Finns haven’t been very successful in sports lately, so my victory will surely cause great celebration back home!”
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Judoka
Author: EJU Media