Frenchman Alexandre Iddir earns third Grand Prix title
Tel Aviv Grand Prix winner Alexandre Iddir of France this defeated Tbilisi Grand Prix silver medallist Rafael Buzacarini (BRA) to win his country’s first gold medal at the Grand Prix in Antalya. World number 22 Iddir pulled away from his Brazilian adversary in golden score as Buzacarini had to attack with two shidos to his name and he got caught with a ko-uchi-gari for ippon.
In the first semi-final former world bronze medallist Ramadan Darwish (EGY) was catapulted towards the tatami by Iddir in golden score with an o-soto-gari for ippon. In the second semi-final Buzacarini profited from an error-strewn display by a tired Nikiforov who was penalised for passivity for the third and final time in golden score.
The first bronze medal was won by Nikiforov who powered past The Hague Grand Prix bronze medallist Leonardo Goncalves (BRA). Belgian ace Nikiforov executed a driving seoi-nage for a waza-ari and wrapped up his place on the podium with a o-soto-makikomi.
The second bronze medal went to Olympic silver medallist Elmar Gasimov (AZE) who conquered fellow veteran and four-time Grand Prix winner Darwish by a waza-ari score.
Result | City | Date |
---|---|---|
2 | Paris | 30 Jul |
1 | Abu Dhabi | 21 May |
1 | Zagreb | 26 Apr |
3 | Belgrade | 2023 |
2 | Montpellier | 2023 |