On the first day of action, we saw Sofia Petitto of Italy come away with a silver medal in the category under 48 kg. Petitto had a strong performance on the day and can be happy about claiming another medal, after also taking a silver medal last weekend at the European cup in Celje.
In the same category, Mara Kraft of Austria came close to a podium finish but narrowly missed out. Kraft had a hard day at the office, going to minimum full time in all of her matches, but showed great will power as well as good physical condition. The Austrian will sure be disappointed to miss out on the medal, but can be proud of a strong performance.
In the category -52 kg, Reka Pupp of Hungary also managed to pick up a silver medal. The Hungarian was looking strong throughout the day and came really close to the Gold medal but a small slip in Golden Score cost her the victory. Nevertheless, Pupp can be delighted about having won her first medal this year.
In the same category, Olivia Taroncher of Austria finished with a 7th place.
Asimina Theodorakis of Austria came close to the podium in the category under 57 kg, but had to settle for a 5th place in the end of the day. The -57 kg category was highly competitive and with 36 participants, it was the second largest weight division in the tournament. Theodorakis recently picked up her first medal in a Senior European Cup and can be proud of her performance this weekend - We are sure to see her on the podium at Continental Open level soon as well.
On the second day of action, first and foremost, there was a silver medal for Miklos Cirjenics of Hungary in the category under 100 kg. Cirjenics has been absent from competition since the World Masters in Guangzhou back in December, but this weekend he clearly showed that he is back on track. The Hungarian wasted no time on his way to the final winning all of his matches with IPPON. In the end of the day, Cirjenics had to settle for silver medal but a great performance on his first appearance back on the IJF World Tour.
Cirjenics could share the podium with teammate Zalan Ohat who picked up a bronze medal - His first medal this season, upgrading his latest 5th place, to a spot on the podium.
Also, another IPPON GEAR athlete made her comeback this weekend; namely Barbara Matic of Croatia, who claimed a bronze medal in the -70 kg category. Matic has been out from competition since February due to a knee injury but this weekend she showed that, also she, is back on track and ready to take on the rest of the Olympic qualification.
Mercedesz Szigetvari of Hungary once again confirmed that she is at good form at the moment, when she picked up a silver medal in the +78 kg category - The third silver medal for Hungary this weekend. After winning two European Cup finals in a row, the Hungarian heavy weight had to settle for a silver medal this time, but can sure be proud of another good performance.
In the same category, also teammate Emese Karpati showed good judo, but in the end of the day just missed out on a medal and had to settle for a 5th place.
Also, in this category, Croatian Ivana Sutalo ended with a 7th place.
In the -78 kg category, another Hungarian also came close to the podium, namely Evelin Salanki. Salanki had a good performance throughout the day but just missed out on the medal finishing 5th after a tight bronze medal match, which was decided in Golden Score.
Also, Ivan Covic of Croatia ended his day with a 5th place in the +100 kg category narrowly missing out on a podium spot.
Congratulations to our medalists this weekend and also, welcome back to Miklos and Barbara. Happy to see you returning to the competition mat!
Next up for the IPPON GEAR athletes will be the European Games in Minsk, where we are happy to have several athletes qualified - We will cover all action and we wish good luck to everyone!
