Romanian Grand Slam final won by Daniel Natea

The final +100kg of the first edition of the Grand Slam was 100% Romanian as Daniel Natea, two-time bronze medallist this year and Vladut Simionescu both qualified for the final. After a long period of observation, NATEA could immobilize SIMIONESCU for ippon to give a great conclusion to a beautiful last day of competition here in Abu Dhabi and to underline the performance of the two Romanian athletes, who qualified for the final but with style.

The first bronze medal bout opposed Maciej Sarnacki (POL), bronze medallist in Tyumen this year, and Daniel Allerstorfer (AUT), finalist in Tashkent two weeks ago. On the final gong, Sarnacki, who was already leading by penalty, scored a waza-ari to confirm his victory.

In the second bronze medal fight, the winner of the Zagreb Grand Prix this year, Roy Meyer (NED), was opposed to the bronze medallist of the last World Championships, Renat Saidov (RUS). After two minutes, Meyer engaged a superb tai-otoshi, which sent the immense body of Saidov to the ground for what looked like a perfect ippon. But clearly the landing was not as beautiful as the execution and Saidov did not land flat on his back. This the technique was only awarded with a waza-ari. For the rest of the fight, Saidov was running to try to come back, but without success.