Ilias Iliadis entertains German crowd with one souflaki

Greek World bronze medallist Ilias Iliadis was in devastating form in Germany and ended his successful day by defeating Abu Dhabi Grand Prix silver medallist Noel van 't End to win -90kg gold. Throwing phenom Iliadis, still only 27, exchanged shido penalties with the Dutchman who neutralised every attack until 23 seconds from the end when the Greek ace scored a yuko from an uchi-mata.

Iliadis was in a relaxed mood before starting his day as he warmed up with U81kg gold medallist Travis Stevens eventual U78kg bronze medallist Audrey Tcheumeo and heavyweight Kamikawa Daiki (JPN) who took gold.

Van 't End sealed his place in the U90kg final by registering a last-gasp score against Tokyo Grand Slam bronze medallist Nishiyama Daiki (JPN) in their intriguing semi-final. The Dutchman had two shido penalties to his name while the Japanese judoka only had one but Van 't End  held his nerve and his patience was rewarded when he caught his opponent with a ko-uchi-gari for ippon. In the second semi-final Iliadis produced a clinical performance against French Romain Buffet who was overpowered in ne-waza before being trapped with osaekomi-waza from which the Frenchman submitted after just one second.

The first bronze medal was won by Nishiyama against Rijeka Grand Prix bronze medallist Ciril GROSSKLAUS (SUI). The Japanese fighter scored a yuko from a harai-goshi and despite a spirited effort his Swiss rival was unable to trouble the scoreboard. The second bronze medal was captured by Oberwart European Open winner Zviad Gogotchuri (GEO) as he needed just 35 seconds to dismiss Romain Buffet (FRA) by ippon from a ura-nage.