Stanislav Bondarenko wins first IJF Tour gold medal in Budapest

Stanislav Bondarenko of the Ukraine won his first Grand Prix title on Sunday as he bested Qingdao Grand Prix bronze medallist Ueda Katsuma (JPN) in the last final of the Budapest Grand Prix 2016. Ueda, 22, has been used sparingly by Japan and based on his performance in the final may be made to wait for another opportunity on the IJF World Judo Tour. A lethargic duel saw both men commit errors and trade shido penalties with neither judoka able to threaten the scoreboard.

The contest finished with three shidos against the Japanese and two shidos against the Ukrainian Tokyo Grand Slam bronze medallist, who will believe that his result can reinvigorate his career at the top level.

The first bronze medal was won by 23-year-old Nabil Zalagh (FRA) who overpowered Pan American Games winner Freddy Figueroa (ECU) on the ground in osaekomi for 20 seconds. Zalagh, who was aiming for his first international medal, sent Figueroa over with an ouchi-gari for a yuko before landing on the Ecuador fighter and remaining there with the pin for bronze. The second and last bronze medal fight of the tournament opposed Havana Grand Prix bronze medallist Andre Breitbarth (GER) and Junior European Championships bronze medallist Zarko Culum (SRB). Top seed Breitbarth contained the young Serbian before unleashing his own attacks and scored a waza-ari before pinning his opponent with a kuzure-kesa-gatame for 15 seconds and a place on the medal podium.