Skip to main content

Tel-Aviv GP 2019 - Day 2 (We'll take one of each)

By
There was no less excitement on Day 2 of the Tel-Aviv GP. After a disappointing hardware-less day for the Israeli men's team on Thursday, they wanted so desperately to get off of the schneid, and the hometown fans would not be disappointed.

Israel took home 3 medals on Friday - Bronze in the men's -73, Silver in the Women's -63, and Gold in the Men's -81.

In the -73 category, Tohar Butbul took a tour of North America - beating the Candian Bouchard and the American Turner by Ippon - Bouchard with Osoto Gari 3 minutes in, and Turner on a Wazari from a Seoinage 23 seconds into Golden Score. He was cruising in the quarter finals, up by a Wazari with the seconds ticking away - but was thrown by Tajikistan's Khojazoda literally as time ran out - forcing him into the repechage. He ultimately won the Bronze by beating Nils Stump of Switzerland

In the -63 category, Inbal Shemesh, despite being the World #37, fought some good battles and came away with the Silver, ultimately losing to Maria Centracchio of Italy in Golden Score.

As for the -81 category, it seemed as if it was almost scripted. In the last match of the day,  hometown favorite Sagi Muki, dispatched Ivanov of Belarus with a beautiful Sode Tsurikomi Goshi at just over a minute into the match. Needless to say the crowd went wild - Sagi was ecstatic and jumped into Coach Oren Smadga's arms right after the final bows. As he walked to the podium, Neta's Eurovision-winning song - 'Toy' was blaring over the speakers. Below is a video of the throw




In non-Israeli news - while the USA and Canada didn't do so hot today, Italy seemingly found its way to the podium in every category - taking Bronze in -81 (Parlati), Silver in -73 (Giovanni Esposito) and -70 (Bellandi) and Gold in -63 (Centracchio). Add that to their Gold from Day 1, and Italy has 5 medals in the tournament so far - only one less than Israel's 6.

There was also a scary moment in the -63 quarterfinal where Emillie Sook of Denmark choked out Barbara Matic of Croatia for the win. The referee didn't see the choke, and as such Matic was out for a few seconds before the match was stopped. Thankfully, after a few moments with the medic, she was able to walk off the mat on her own power - in the video below, you can actually see her face turning blue ( not for the faint of heart)

 


That's all for today, as they say in Israel - Shabbat Shalom

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Catch-all Post for April

By
So I haven't posted anything in six weeks, and yet I still hope I have some loyal readers left. April has proven to be a busy month for me - I am about to switch jobs, and I took a two-week vacation as well. April was also a great month in Judo for me, as my Son passed his Yellow belt test. He also executed a picture perfect ippon seoinage in a 'Mock Shiai'. My wife, who seldom comes to practice, was very impressed. Although he'll be playing some baseball over the next few weeks, he will be coming back to Judo soon, and is excited about working towards his orange belt. The other day, we were at a family get-together, and one of his cousins was bullying him a bit, hitting him a couple of times. Mitch stepped in and was about to throw the kid with O-Uchi Gari just as my wife, the kids' mom, and I intervened. At first, I scolded him. But when I realized he was defending himself, I apologized, and told him that if that happens again, throw the kid, pin him and call for ...
4 comments
Read more

2019 Paris GS Round Up and bits from Viszer's Q and A

By
The Paris Grand Slam was held last weekend, and as the first Grand Slam event of the year, it didn't disappoint (at least for the people who won medals), and as an added bonus, IJF President Marius Vizer hosted a twitter Q and A. Because we're talking about Paris, and France, we need to start with the French Team - or should I say the French Women. According to an article on the IJF site, this is the First time since 1971 that a French male Judoka hasn't gotten a podium spot at the Paris GS. But you know who did get a Podium spot - Clarisse Abegnounou. The hometown star won her fifth Paris GS title in spectacularly dramatic fashion - by beating Tina Trestenjak of Slovenia 3 minutes deep into Golden Score, and throwing out her shoulder in the process (you can watch her moment of glory in the video below) I also want to give a shout out to both Devin Waldenburg (-60) and Ebony Drysdale Daley (-70) who became the first Jamaicans to compete in an IJF World Tour event...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tel-Aviv GP 2019 - Day 3 and Wrap-up

By
Day 3, the final day of the Tel-Aviv GP saw the home team end it on a high note. Rio Bronze Medalist Ori Sasson took gold in the -100 category, obviously winning the last medal in the last match on home soil has it's own emotional advantages, but he managed to win it in the weirdest of ways - With two of his opponents being disqualified sandwiching two resounding ippon throws. In his first match, which went a full 3 minutes into Golden Score, he outlasted Russia's Shakhbazov on penalties. In his next match, Ukraine's Kolesnyk only lasted 23 seconds, before Sasson threw him with a resounding Morote Seoinage (as a big guy myself, there's no greater satisfaction than the thud of your opponent on the mat that indicates a sure ippon). In the semi-final, the Azeri - Kokauri, managed to last a full two-minutes before being thrown by Sasson with Kouchi Gari for Ippon. Leaving only the other Ukrainian - Yakiv Khammo - between Ori and the final Gold for Israel. It would take near...
Post a Comment
Read more