For his first tournament in 2022, Matthias Casse won the final of the Portuguese Judo Grand Prix in the -81 kg category this Saturday in Almada.
Exempted from the first round thanks to his second place in the world, Casse first won on an ippon after 10 seconds in the ‘golden score’ against the Mongol Erdenebayar Batzaya who usually competes in -73 kg. The Antwerper then defeated on ippon from the Frenchman Arnaud Aregba, 138th worldwide, then Hungarian Robert Rajkai, 80th in the world, to reach the semi-finals.
For a place in the final, the native of Mortsel then got the better of the Japanese Yuhei Oino, unclassified, on an ippon after just over two minutes of combat. In the final, he got the better of the Finn Oskari Makinen, 115th in the world, who beat the Frenchman in the previous round Nicolas Chilard, 69th worldwide. A Victory of Broken by ippon, a ssuperb movement of the Belgian judoka after 2 minutes 27 seconds of combat. An ideal start to the season for the world champion.
In Portugal, Casse is playing his first tournament of the year 2022. He will then skip the Paris Grand Slam but will indeed be present at the Tel Aviv Grand Slam on February 18.
