Guilherme Schimidt survives a stunning field and is the big man U81kg

Brazil’s rising star Guilherme Schimidt is on a roll. Fresh off winning gold at the 2022 Antalya Grand Slam, he has just won his second IJF gold in Hungary and the first gold medal for Brazil at the Grand Slam. In the final he defeated former World Champion Saeid Mollaei (AZE). Schimidt seriously belongs to the big boys now having so many wins on his name over the last year and started the qualification perfectly.

He opened up well, winning his first match with a unique choke on Germany’s Tim Gramkow. Brazilian players tend to be good at newaza and Schimidt is no exception. Many of his matches in Hungary were won via hansoku-make. In fact, three of them were, including the final. The first of these were in his second match, against Askerbil Gerbekov (BRN), who actually countered Schimidt for waza-ari score. But Gerbekov eventually lost after getting three shidos, the last of which was for untidy judogi. What a way to lose a match.

Schimidt did a mix of throwing and groundwork against Francois Gautheir Drapeau (CAN). First, he threw him with harai-makikomi for waza-ari. Then, he tried to do a choke but ended up pinning the Canadian for the win.

Next up was the very capable Vedak Albayrak (TUR) who was thrown with ura-nage. Albayrak landed on his butt but with both elbows extended. That meant waza-ari for Schimidt but also a shido (his third one) for Albayrak. And with that, he was disqualified.

Schimidt’s final was against Saeid Mollaei, the former Iranian fighter who subsequently fought for Mongolia but now represents Azerbaijan. Their’s was a tough match but neither player managed to score in regular time. Both had two shidos each. Then, in Golden Score, Schimidt attacked more resulting in Mollaei getting his third shido and thus, hansoku-make.

Antonnio Esposito was the revelation of the day. For bronze he had to use a weakness to avoid being crushed by Albayrak. The Italian was charred, unable to attack. What he did not lose was his lucidity and when the third shido was about to fall, he made the Turk fall. It was a breather. In addition, he lost his coach, who was expelled for speaking when he shouldn't. The respite, that lucidity and the Italian's intelligence broke Albayrak’s plans, who ended up eliminated, bronze for Italy

Tatalashvili and the Canadian Francois Gauthier-Drapeau fought for the bronze that closed the second day. Tatalashvili scored waza-ari a minute and a half from time with a nice yoko-otoshi and a natural change in direction. Tatalashvili won his fourth grand slam medal.

The apotheosis came in the most intense category. Belgian and world champion Matthias Casse crashed into Antonio Esposito's Italian wall. In the quarter-finals, Esposito ran out of fuel against Nugzari Tatalashvili, who, as his name suggests, comes from the United Arab Emirates, but above all he had just beaten Georgian Giorgi Sherazadishvili and local hopeful Attila Ungvari. Tatalashvili was confident and moved happily but the great Saeid Mollaei was also prowling around. The Azeri had knocked down his friend Sagi Muki in the first fight, which both celebrated. After the loss, the Israeli wanted Mollaei to win the gold and Mollaei took it seriously, probably to ease his friend's grief. The fact is that he eliminated Tatalashvili and gave Guilherme Schimidt an appointment in the last fight.