Mascha Ballhaus defeats Ai Shishime in Tashkent final

It was not a surprise that Japan was the strongest country at the first day of the Grand Slam of Tashkent, with gold, silver and bronze they lead. Germany though is powerful with two medals and the gold was for Mascha Ballhaus who defeated former World Champion Ai Shishime U52kg.

Ballhaus defeated ground expert Shishime to take her first Grand Slam medal and what a sensation win for the twin half of Seija who really made a difference with Shishime with a change of direction from uchimata to o-uchi. She determined the pace from the first minute and could defend her wazari for the last two and half minutes. Definitely a victory against the odds after a fantastic tournament in Uzbekistan.

Another surprise was a victory for Serbia’s lightweight Andrea Stojadinov. She has all the skills but last few years weren’t easy for her and she had to skip the Olympic Games and lost the connection to the top. On Friday she made clear she is still capable of belonging to the top women. Stojadinov defeated in the final Portugal’s Catarina Costa. Although most of the top women were absent, this must be a great motivation for Stojadinov to stand on the highest podium for the first in two years when she won the European U23 title and again in Tashkent where she won her last medal in 2021.

Costa led the match until the last minute, but Stojadinov came back in the match and Costa got her second penalty. Despite that pressure, she scored three seconds for the end with the equalizer. In the golden score both had chances and after 90 seconds it was Costa who got her third penalty for a false attack.

Momo Tamaoki was not a surprise with a gold medal for women U57kg. She dominated Georgia’s Eteri Liparteliani who had beaten Lien (TPE) in the semi final. Tamaoki caught Liparteliani with perfect groundwork working her way to an oseikomi.

Kim Won Jin of Korea won the gold medal for men U60kg against Nurkanat Serikbayev (KAZ). His first victory since his Masters gold in January 2021. It will bring him back to the top, important for his battle to qualify for Paris in 2024.

Nurali Emomali of Tajikistan captured his first IJF World Tour medal. The Junior World Champion made his potential come true when he defeated Sardor Nurillaev of Uzbekistan, the favourite to win the category U66kg. Emomali is the lightest of his country ever to win a World Tour event. Heavyweight and world number one Temur Rakhimov is the previous athlete to win for Tajikistan last year and before that Somon Makhmadbekov won gold in 2018 at a World Cup in Hongkong. Emomali is only the second ever to win a Grand Slam for Tajikistan.