The second day of Grand Slam d’Antalya saw local children fill the stadium looking forward to another great day of judo. They attended an exciting opening ceremony, where the President of the International Judo Federation, Marius Vizerand the President of the Turkish Judo Federation, Caesar Grumpyofficially opened the Grand Slam.
The British Lucy Renshall returned to her stellar form beating Hungary’s Ozbas to defend her 2021 Antalya Grand Slam title. -63 kg. IJF President Marius Vizer presented the medals.
On -73kgthe young Georgian sensation Giorgi Terashvili won his first-ever medal on the world judo circuit, a gold medal, beating Italian Lombardo who had recently changed weight classes. He received his medal from the hands of the President of CEDCO Hungary, Michael Michaely.
A disputed final saw the former French world champion of the -70kg, Marie Eve Gahié, take the lead with this superb Ippon. After missing the Olympic selection in Tokyo, Gahié seems to have found his way. She received her medals from IJF Director General Vlad Marinescu. “Right before, I had a Waza-ari against me, so I had to stay calm, says the French. I said to myself ‘I have time, don’t panic’, because I’m used to panicking. I really said I had to take my time.”
In a duel at the top, the young Brazilian Guilherme Schmidt defeated world champion Casse and qualified for the -81 kg final. There he met the man everyone had come to see, the local hero, the powerful Turkish Vedat Albayrak.
But Schmidt continued his incredible day and dashed his opponent’s gold medal hopes by locking his arm and then performing a fantastic transition to floor work to pocket his first-ever Grand Slam medal. The medals were awarded by Yavuz YukselsChairman of the group rises. “I tried to stay calm and concentrate on the fight, especially when I was trailing from a Waza-ari, explains the Brazilian_. I had to work very hard to be able to fight, and I’m delighted to get my first gold medal”_
The public still had many reasons to be enthusiastic. All the local judokas put in solid performances, with spectacular throws and mastery of ground work, inspiring the youngest. The next generation of turkish judokas looks brilliant!
