Martyna Trajdos does it again, from Baku to Tokyo

A dazzling surprise was the victory of Martyna Trajdos U63kg defeating World Champion Tina Trstenjak at the second day of the Grand Slam in Tokyo. European Games winner Martyna Trajdos again surprised the top, to what she clearly belongs to since this year.

Slovenia's Tina Trstenjak did not flinch today on the tatami of the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium and held her role of ultimate favorite of the competition by qualifying for the final where she met the last athlete who defeated her, Martyna Trajdos. It was in Baku during the European Games, acting as the 2015 European championship but the difference from the Baku Games was that in the meanwhile Trstenjak became world champion and nothing seems to stop her on the way to the title, except maybe the French athlete Clarisse Agbegnenou who is her closest rival but who did not come to Tokyo this year.

According to the tactic that she has developed in recent months, Trstenjak began her final with a very high rhythm, making her opponent’s head spin, but Trajdos knowing she had already beaten the Slovenian did not panic and let the storm fade, even once she was thrown for a yuko with a counterattack. But after a opportunist piece of ground work that followed the yuko, the German managed to get her leg out to immobilize the Slovenian for ippon and offer a surprise victory to the German, Trajdos earning her first Grand Slam gold medal. At the same time, the German delivered a superb performance to become the first non-Japanese to win gold in Japan this year.

Trajdos said, “I’m really tired now that I’ve come to the end of the year. But I did not want to miss Tokyo and have always wanted to take a medal here. I had lots of support from my coach, team mates and it was a real bonus to have my boyfriend in the audience. I told myself on the way to the tatami I don’t want to lose in front of him.” With regard to the difficulty of coming to Tokyo, the prospect of facing several Japanese and taking a medal Trajdos said, “I have confidence in my abilities but it certainly helps to be encouraged by those I trust when I see how much they believe in me.”

With the holiday season fast approaching, Trajdos still has some judo left in her. “I’ll be staying for the training camp before heading back home to take a break over the Christmas period,” said Trajdos. German coach Michael Bazynski said that, “Quite often Martyna will begin strongly and then not be able to maintain that tempo throughout the day. It was different today and she managed to bring the same level of intensity to the end.”

The first bronze medal fight opposed the experienced Van Emden Anicka (NED), who was running after a 13th Grand Slam medal and Tashiro Miku (JPN), winner of the World Masters this year in Rabat, Morocco, and who was the last Japanese representative present in the final block of the category. Less than a minute was necessary for Tashiro Miku to pin down Van Emden with a strong hold down. This third medal on the occasion of a grand slam for the Japanese deprives the Dutch the opportunity to increase her personal record of medals on the World Judo Tour.

The second bronze medal fight saw the 2015 Asian Champion and Tyumen Grand Slam gold medallist, Tsedevsuren Munkhzaya (MGL) opposed to Ekaterina Valkova (RUS), who scored the first yuko with a well executed yoko-tomoe-nage. The Russian doubled the score a fews seconds later with again the same technique but then Tsedevsuren reduced the score with a ura-nage for yuko. But it was said that it would not be the final result, when Valkova increased her lead with a o-uchi-gari for waza-ari. A few strong attacks later but for no score, Valkova could finally relax to celebrate a well deserved medal.