Arman Adamian shows ambition to Russian rivals

From May next year, the new Olympic qualification period will begin and from then on all efforts will be focused on the world circuit for gaining those valuable points. In the meantime, the Zagreb Grand Prix was a perfect test, in many ways, for Arman Adamian of Russian more reason to start early as the competition will be tough.

Arman Adamian produced his biggest effort in the semi-final against former world champion for Cuba Asley Gonzalez, now competing under the Romanian flag. After a very close match, Adamian had to wait until golden score to eventually notch up a waza-ari. In the final he was opposed to Kurbjeweit Garcia Dario (GER), who only had a fifth place in a grand prix to his name before the start of the Zagreb event.

After only 17 seconds, Adamian scored, registered first as ippon but lowered to waza-ari after the video refereeing confirmed that Kurbjeweit Garcia did not land on his back. The match looked a little more balanced then, at least until 44 seconds remained. Adamian then counterattacked his opponent to score a second waza-ari that offered him the gold medal.

The host country had another chance to win a medal, with Marko Kumric (CRO) who faced Asley Gonzalez (ROU) for a bronze. This was not an easy task but Marko Kumric, fully supported by a teammate present in the stands, delivered a great performance, scoring a waza-ari with sumi-gaeshi, probably the technique of the day and then keeping his advantage until the end. Kumric won the second medal for the home nation here in Zagreb.

23 year old Falk Petersilka (GER) competed against the winner of the Kazan Grand Slam this season, Simeon Catharina (NED), also 23 years old. Eri-seoi-otoshi and kata guruma combined for the winning ticket for Simeon Catharina to earn the bronze medal.