Monica Ungureanu struck gold in the women’s -48 kilo class at the Tbilisi Grand Prix – the third Grand Prix of the season. Having dispatched pre
ADVERTISEMENTMonica Ungureanu struck gold in the women’s -48 kilo class at the Tbilisi Grand Prix – the third Grand Prix of the season.
Having dispatched pre tournament favourite Irina Dolgova of Russia in the semis the Romanian came up against Taciana Lima of Guinea-Bissau.
In a tight affair Ungureanu – who built a steady lead with a series of yuko scores – eventually emerged victorious thanks to an ippon with 35 seconds of the fight left.
Giuffrida downs Cohan again
Odette Giuffrida claimed the -52 kg title.
The Italian judoka beat Israels’ Gili Cohen to repeat her feat at the 2015 World Championships.
After each athlete had received a penalty a waza-ari proved enough for Giuffrida to celebrate gold.
Silva strikes gold
Rafaela Silva reigned supreme in the -57 kilo division.
The Brazilian – who won World Championship gold on home soil in 2013 – met Nora Gjakova from Kosovo although she was fighting under the International Judo Federation flag.
Silva wrapped up the contest after 2 minutes and 28 seconds courtesy of an ippon.
Urozboev on top
Diyorbek Urozboev celebrated his first elite level gold medal on day one of the Tbilisi Grand Prix.
In the final of the -60 kilo class the Uzbek surprised his more illustrious rival from Mongolia, Amartuvshin Dashdavaa, the 2013 world silver medallist.
Urozboev won gold when he sent his opponent to the tatami for ippon after two minutes and 43 seconds.
Margvelashvili thrills home crowd
Vazha Margvelashvili gave the home crowd something to cheer about on day one of competition in the Georgian capital.
He fended off the strong challenge of Italian Fabio Basile in the showpiece match for the -66 kilo division.
ADVERTISEMENTAfter a penalty a piece – a waza-ari half point proved decisive as the home hope took the shiniest of medals.
Surprise of the day
The Surprise run of the day came in the women’s -52kg contest.
Georgian Miriam Janashvili – who is ranked 165 in the world – reached semi-finals winning twice by ippon.
She eliminated world number 3 and top seed Brazilian Erika Miranda having previously won opening two combats with impressive ippons.
ADVERTISEMENTUnfortunately for Janashvili and the partizan crowd she lost in the semis and her bronze medal match, but her fine performance in Tbilisi should lay some medal-winning foundations for the future.