Esposito wins gold in 15 seconds

All it took was 15-seconds for Italian Giovanni Esposito to pin down the men’s -73 kg title at the Zagreb Grand Prix judo championships.

Spaniard Anton Shuhalieiev and Esposito stepped on to the tatami with golden hopes, but for the former they were dashed almost instantly.

A poor seoi-otoshi attack offered Esposito the chance to counter and he did it perfectly, throwing for ippon with a tightly held sumi-gaeshi.

Only 15 seconds had passed since the referee called, “Hajime!” And Esposito was already the category’s champion.

The final of the men’s -81kg was a real clash of styles, the flamboyant, wild judo of Arnaud Aregba of France versus the considered work and power of Bernd Fasching of Austria.

The latter was frustrated by the unpredictability of Aregba who scored early and then continued to work on both sides, using a wide range of techniques.

Dangerous with an uchi-mata, ko-uchi-gari and seoi-otoshi variations, Aregba never paused for a second but it was eventually an o-uchi-gaeshi which planted him on top of Fasching, finishing with the hold. This was a worthy gold medal and an entertaining one.

The women’s -63 kg was contested by Angelika Szymanska of Poland, the 2024 world silver medallist, and Gili Sharir of Israel, the 2023 Paris Grand Slam winner.

It became a shido battle very quickly, a close one, eventually finishing in Sharir’s favour just 20 seconds into golden score.

Hosts Croatia were missing Barbara Matic, the Olympic -women’s -70kg champion, who has stepped aside this year, still resting and planning after her Olympic triumph.

Clemence Eme of France had a spectacular day to make it to the final. The 28-year-old has no result on the World Judo Tour but does have a junior world medal.

In the final, Eme faced world champion Shiho Tanaka. It was a close contest, perhaps closer than anyone expected, taking Tanaka six minutes of contest time to find the right moment to score.

She had been trying in ne-waza but nothing had worked and in tachi-waza things were even. It was a sasae-tsuri-komi-ashi two minutes into extra time that earned the winning yuko and Tanaka’s gold medal.

RESULTS

Men’s -73 kg

1. ESPOSITO Giovanni (ITA)

2. SHUHALIEIEV Anton (ESP)

3. SKERLEV Victor (BUL)

3. JEAN Peter (FRA)

5. KVANTIDZE Otari (POR)

5. LEVY Benjamin (GBR)

7. NURKOVIC Jahja (MNE)

7. MOSIASHVILI Tornike (GEO)

Men’s -81 kg

1. AREGBA Arnaud (FRA)

2. FASCHING Bernd (AUT)

3. IZAWA Naoto (JPN)

3. ESPOSITO Antonio (ITA)

5. IHANAMAKI Eetu (FIN)

5. GRAMATIKOV Georgi (BUL)

7. GALANDARZADE Vusal (AZE)

7. FERNANDO Joao (POR)

Women’s -63 kg

1. SHARIR Gili (ISR)

2. SZYMANSKA Angelika (POL)

3. RENSHALL Lucy (GBR)

3. OBERAN Iva (CRO)

5. SHEMESH Inbal (ISR)

5. AVANZATO Carlotta (ITA)

7. MAZOUZI Leila (SLO)

7. KROPSKA Natalia (POL)

Women’s -70 kg

1. TANAKA Shiho (JPN)

2. EME Clemence (FRA)

3. ANDRIC Aleksandra (SRB)

3. PEDROTTI Irene (ITA)

5. CVJETKO Lara (CRO)

5. SOBIERAJSKA Katarzyna (POL)

7. ERIKSSON Ida (SWE)

7. KULIC Karla (CRO)