Three gold medals were possible this Saturday for the French delegation during this first day of the Grand Slam in Paris. They eventually turned into money. Six others in bronze complete the harvest, before this Sunday which promises to be explosive.
Among the women, three medals were won in the under 48 kg category: silver for Mélanie Clément, and bronze for Shirine Boukli and Blandine Pont. In the final, Clément did not last long against Wakana Koga, 2nd in the last Worlds, victorious over Boukli in the quarterfinals on a waza-ari, then Pont in the semi-finals. The bronze medalist of the last European Championships was taken over by the Japanese after a few tens of seconds of fighting.
Boukli takes revenge for the Tokyo Olympics
Even if she did not manage to climb higher on the podium, Shirine Boukli gave herself a beautiful emotion on the tatami of Bercy. The reigning European champion indeed found on her way the Serbian Milica Nikolic, the same one who had eliminated her in the first round of the Games in Tokyo. In Japan, the Flam 91 graduate had lived through hell. She finally found her smile.
In less than 52 kg, Astride Gneto has long believed to win gold. Facing the Israeli Gefen Primo, who took her to the golden score, Priscilla’s little sister dominated without concluding before suffering the cons of the 3rd of the last World Championships. In the absence of Clarisse Agbégnénou, Manon Deketer (less than 63 kg) gleans bronze.
The higher categories this Sunday
In the boys, Théo Riquin held up well against the Japanese Kenshi Harada in the final of less than 73 kg. Romain Valadier-Picard (19), European junior champion, won bronze in the under 60 kg category. Ditto for Orlando Cazorla (less than 66 kg) and Whalid Khyar in the same category. Facing Moldovan Denis Vieru (winner in 2019), the 2016 European champion wins after an incredible fight that lasted almost nine minutes!
Place this Sunday in the higher categories, with in particular Cyrille Maret (34 years old, over 100 kg), who has already won six medals including three titles (from 2014 to 2016) in Paris, all in the under 100 kg category. In women, Audrey Tcheuméo, who won her first trophy ten years ago, is aiming for the pass of five.
