{"id":10335,"date":"2026-03-09T08:46:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T01:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/?p=10335"},"modified":"2026-03-09T08:47:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T01:47:00","slug":"branser-gives-guinea-their-first-ever-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/branser-gives-guinea-their-first-ever-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"Branser gives Guinea their first ever gold"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Japan took three gold medals on day one of the Upper Austria Grand Prix and that kept them at the top of the medal table throughout; by the middle of day three it was clear that they couldn\u2019t be caught, largely due to the universality of the event. Prior to the last final block, 19 countries had already won medals, further additions were pending too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That diversity was indeed extended, not least by a gold medal for Guinea, a first gold on the World Judo Tour for this African country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the big stories at the tournament is that of Marie Branser. She fought with total commitment and was rewarded with a place in the women’s -78kg final, only her second ever World Judo Tour final, despite being on the international circuit for 13 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against Branser in the final was Lieke Derks of the Netherlands, twice a grand prix medalist already, once in Zagreb and once in the first edition of the Upper Austria Grand Prix. It was Guinean, who went straight on the attack but Derks was happy to work through the transition phase into ne-waza and made it hard for Branser to recover. She did but with a renewed caution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just after the halfway point the Guinean judoka attacked again and the penalties began to arrive on Derks\u2019 side of the scoreboard, two of them. Branser knew the gold was within reach. The contest moved into extra time but Branser kept her focus and after just 30 seconds threw Derks with a seoi-otoshi. The score was given and she punched the air in celebration. This is not only her first gold medal on the World Judo Tour but a first grand prix gold ever for Guinea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Far and away, the leader of the heavyweight women\u2019s +78kg pack in Linz was Raz Hershko. Olympic and world medals, plus 20 World Judo Tour medals, make her formidable opposition for anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Israeli took on Giovanna Santos of Brazil for the gold. Santos has three grand prix bronze medals on her CV but nothing higher and so, on paper, Hershko should have the gold already banked. Judo is not ever that simple though and Santos came on to the tatami ready to fight for the top spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A number of failed attacks brought penalties to both athletes and so Hershko changed her plan and worked on the floor. She kept hold of the end of Santos\u2019 sleeve after an attack of her own and converted it into a submission, an ippon call and a gold medal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The men’s -90kg was a category that experienced a real shake-up, orchestrated by the current undisputed master of the -81kg, Tato Grigalashvili of Gerogia. Enjoying a judo outing at the weight above, he fought with panache and intelligence, transferring all his skills seamlessly into a category that, on paper, did not look easy to compete in at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final was an all-Georgian affair but spanning two generations. Three-time senior world champion Tato was opposed by junior world champion Luka Javakhishvili.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took time for the competitors to warm-up into the contest and after 90 seconds Tato received a shido. This fired him up and he never looked back, piling on the pressure and making it impossible for his younger teammate to do anything. He scored a yuko and then forced two penalties against the junior. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He then made space on the floor and held him down. It was a demonstration of their differences and a reminder to the younger generations that no matter what they have achieved at junior level, the jump to seniors is not always straight forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anton Savytskiy has not competed too much in the last year, just three events prior to his arrival in Linz, but has made every appearance count. Gold in Tbilisi and Mongolia and silver in Paris show that he\u2019s on a positive track and in Austria he kept the momentum going. He won all the way to the final, now his 4th in four events, to face a 22-year-old with no defence on the World Judo Tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kou Nakayama of Japan lacked experience but not heart or skill. He attempted to engage but Savytskiy had no intention of allowing the Japanese athlete to get down to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closing the distance and gripping with commitment, the Ukrainian threw for iron in the first exchange adding yet another World Judo Tour gold medal to his prize list. Nakayama had a great first day on the Tour and has a silver medal to show for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the biggest surprises of day came at the beginning of the day with the elimination of the top seed, world and Olympic medallist Guram Tushishvili. This left space for any number of the heavyweight men to make a name for themselves and so a renewed energy washed over the category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Ibrahim Tataroglu of Turkey, who had eliminated the Georgian champion and he certainly capitalised, moving through the draw all the way to the final. There he met Jur Spijkers of the Netherlands, more decorated than the 20-year-old Turkish judoka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All previous medals aside, Tataroglu found his rhythm and confidence, attacking with power and commitment. Spijkers had avoided all pitfalls for the first three minutes but Tataroglu just kept coming and surged forward with a makikomi that left no doubt in anyone\u2019s mind. It was an ippon throw for a first World Judo Tour gold and after starting his day in the most spectacular way, Tataroglu had finished it just as emphatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final Results<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Women’s -78 kg: <\/strong>1. BRANSER Marie (GUI); 2. DERKS Lieke (NED); 3. LOBNIK Metka (SLO) and KURCHENKO Yuliia (UKR); 5. FREITAS Beatriz (BRA) and GODBOUT Coralie (CAN); 7. GORGUET-VERANES Maidelines (ROU) and KRAPU Emma (FIN)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women’s +78 kg:<\/strong> 1. HERSHKO Raz (ISR); 2. SANTOS Giovanna (BRA); 3. MISHINER Yuli Alma (ISR) and AKTAS Emma-Melis (EST); 5. MINKADA-CAQUINEAU Leonie (FRA) and RAMAZANOVA Akerke (KAZ); 7. MARINI Tiziana (ITA) and 7. MORILLO Moira (DOM)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Men’s -90 kg: <\/strong>1. GRIGALASHVILI Tato (GEO); 2. JAVAKHISHVILI Luka (GEO); 3. NGAYAP HAMBOU Maxime-Gael (FRA) and NAKAMURA Shunta (JPN); 5. SANTAMARIA RODRIGUEZ Aaron (ESP) and MACEDO Rafael (BRA); 7. GHIMBOVSCHI Vadim (MDA) and SIVAN Roy (ISR)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Men’s -100 kg: <\/strong>1. SAVYTSKIY Anton (UKR); 2. NAKAYAMA Kou (JPN); 3. FONSECA Jorge (POR) and FERREIRA Giovani (BRA); 5. FLORENTINO Robert (DOM) and VEG Zsombor (HUN); 7. BAIKAMUROV Marat (KAZ) and MATASEJE Benjamin (SVK)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Men’s +100 kg: <\/strong>1. TATAROGLU Ibrahim (TUR); 2. SPIJKERS Jur (NED); 3. HATAKEYAMA Gai (JPN) and GAMZATKHANOV Dzhamal (AZE); 5. PUUMALAINEN Martti (FIN) and DEMETRASHVILI Irakli (GEO); 7. AKIANA MONGO Matheo (FRA) and BALYEVSKYY Yevheniy (UKR)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Japan took three gold medals on day one of the Upper Austria Grand Prix and that kept them<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[106],"class_list":["post-10335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-judo"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Marie-Branser.jpg",2002,1127,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Marie-Branser-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Marie-Branser-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Marie-Branser-768x432.jpg",640,360,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Marie-Branser-1024x576.jpg",640,360,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Marie-Branser-1536x865.jpg",1536,865,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Marie-Branser.jpg",2002,1127,false],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Marie-Branser-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Marie-Branser-590x410.jpg",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Newsbeat<\/a>","tag_info":"Newsbeat","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Marie-Branser.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10338,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10335\/revisions\/10338"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}