Fourth Grand Slam victory for Matthias Casse in extreme field

Ten of the world’s top 20 athletes U81kg were in the starting grid of the Grand Slam in Antalya, with Casse seeded one and Mollaei two and both reached the final.

The final was close, as expected. Their tally sat at 4:3 in favour of Mollaei (AZE) before Antalya. They know each other well, they’re both intelligent in their approach. They can both throw with power and precision and each has world gold and Olympic medals. There couldn’t be a better final and despite some caution being on display, it was a fascinating match.

They doubled their fight time, with the lead never staying with either party consistently and neither doing much wrong. However, at the 8 minute mark a mistake in response to an attack from Mollaei put Casse at serious risk on the floor and Mollaei rolled into position almost taking the hold but Casse tied up one of his opponent’s arms and switched hip position to come on top for osae-komi. The Belgian has made it 4:4.

The first bronze medal contest was good to watch, with a lot of movement and some incredible escapes. We could say this victory was all about proprioception, feeling, special awareness. However, in the end it was clear that Boltaboev (UZB) was struggling with an injury and could not continue into the golden score period. Much to his credit Gauthier-Drapeau (CAN) did not look happy to win this way and assisted his Uzbek colleague off the tatami.

The second bronze medal contest had a very different energy with the powerful judo of Alpha Djalo (FRA) and the erratic unpredictability of Frank De Wit (NED). The pace began high and stayed that way but not for too long as Djalo, with a clear structure and a set of practical solutions, countered De Wit’s half-time attack, landing a ura-nage clearly on the back for ippon. The French men are continuing to teach for better and prove they have done the work necessary to rejoin their women’s team at the top of the sport.

Casse (BEL) was losing in the fight before the quarter-final, thrown early by Murtozoev (UZB) for waza-ari and having to claw his way back into the fight. Ever the professional, he worked and worked and eventually threw, never panicking. He then came through his quart-final comfortably before being pushed hard by Alpha Djalo, who, himself, has had a fantastic day.

Djalo has had the road paved for him in Antalya by Mkheidze and Gobert with their gold medals on day 1. He knows it can be done and he has been building game patiently for some time now. As the 4th seed he held up his end of the bargain, including throwing Gautier-Drapeau (CAN) for ippon in their quarter-final. His bronze medal match was never going to be easy; no-one finds fighting Frank De Wit (NED) easy!

On Mollaei’s side of the draw, he made pretty light work of it, dispatching Mecilosek (SLO), Gereltuya (MGL) and De Wit in just 4 minutes, between them. From sode-tsuri-komi-goshi to kata-guruma Mollaei dominated every opponent with an admirable precision. His semi-final, against Boltaboev was on another level again. They took 6 minutes to decide the winner, 6 minutes of an intense head-to-head that included ferocious grappling, modified and re-modified gripping, a whole catalogue or different techniques and eventually a tiny, little footsweep to close. Mollaei used the neatest de-ashi-barai you will ever see, to push the Uzbek into the repechage and take his place in the final.

That de-ashi barai of Mollaei was an incredible finish for a contest between two real fighters. They brought so much positive action and even though Boltaboev (UZB) lost we saw the will to throw and engage. Mollaei’s control of timing and distance, using minimum energy for a maximum result, was a masterpiece, especially after more than 6 minutes of high level, exciting judo. This was not the only fight of the day ending with this kind of technical judo and this is so wonderful to see.