the World Judo Tour 2022 started this Friday in Portugal, with a thrilling first day at Almada Grand Prix where the Portuguese judokas succeeded in taking up the challenge!
Portugal’s Catarina Costa showed great strength against her Korean opponent to win her first gold medal this year in the category under 48 kg.
It was a great pride for the President of the Portuguese Judo Federation, Jorge Fernandes, to present the first medal of the competition to his compatriot.
“Today I’m very happy because I won the first competition of the year in front of my family and friends. It’s really nice to start the year with a victory, and I hope to get more medals gold this year, said Portuguese champion Catarina Costa.
In the category under 60 kg, Korean Lee Harim managed the feat of beating in the final the champion of the Grand Slam of Paris, the Azerbaijani Balabay Aghayev.
The gold medal was presented to him by Juan Carlos Barcos, director of international relations of the International Judo Federation.
Distria Krasniqi, Olympic champion under 48 kg, wins her first gold medal since moving to the category under 52 kg after the Tokyo Games. The Kosovar champion, therefore, begins her year with a decisive victory, hoping to continue her successes in her new weight category.
Our man of the day is without a doubt the Moldavian Denis Vieru, who pulled out a great fight against his Swiss opponent Freddy Waizenegger. He scored two decisive Waza-Ari to win gold in less than 66 kg.
The medals were awarded by the IJF Director of Education and Training, Mohammed Meridja.
“It’s a huge pride to get on the podium becoming the best today. In the future, I will continue to surprise the public with beautiful judo”, explains Denis Vieru.
Back to its best, Brazilian judoka Rafaela Silva won his seventh Grand Prix in the category under 57 kg, beating the Dutch Pleuni Cornelisse.
This first day of competition was marked by the exploits of young Portuguese judokas such as Goncalo Oliveira. The experienced Telma Monteiro also pulled out all the stops in front of his audience.
The next two days of competition promise to be even more exciting for judokas across the country.
