Kayra Ozdemir still going strong with gold in Zagreb

There was no stopping the top two seeds at +78kg at the Zagreb Grand Prix 2023, as Kayra Ozdemir (TUR) and Milica Zabic (SRB) blasted through the preliminaries to meet each other in the final +78kg. The pair, ranked 12 and 13 in the world, respectively, were on blistering form and set up a repeat of the final of the Antalya Grand Slam back in March, where Ozdemir reigned supreme in front of her home crowd.

5-time grand prix winner Ozdemir (nee Sayit) got off to a flying start in round 2, where she faced world number 37 Bulavina (UKR). In the 2nd minute of the contest, she feinted forwards before switching to the back to sweep the Ukrainian flat on her back with ko-soto-gari. In her quarter-final, she took on the host country’s Radic, making light work of the Croatian. Taking her opponent to the ground, she deftly applied juji-gatame to submit Radic in just 30 seconds.

The Turk’s semi-final opponent would turn out to be Samah Hawa Camara (FRA), who was making her first appearance on the IJF World Tour since her 1st-round exit at the Paris Grand Slam in 2022. The Frenchwoman looked to be in fine form, beating Asselah (ALG), number 4 seed Tavano (ITA) and Helena Vukovic (CRO) in the early rounds. She proved to be no match for Ozdemir, however, who dominated the grips and put in several strong attacks. Camara picked up three penalties in as many minutes to send Ozdemir through.

Meanwhile, 3-time grand prix medallist Zabic faced some arguably tougher contests on her way to the podium places but she was no less dominant than her final opposition had been. She remains one of the smallest athletes in the category but uses her speed to great effect.

Against Hoellwart (AUT) in round 2, she threw with seoi-otoshi in the last minute of the contest for waza-ari and transitioned speedily to yoko-shiho-gatame to pin her for the required 10 seconds. She faced Morillo (DOM) at the quarter-final stage and though the Serbian dominated the initial exchanges, she found herself down by two penalties. Unfazed, she pulled off another seoi-otoshi 30 seconds from the end to score ippon.

Zabic would meet the much bigger Hilal Ozturk in the semi-final and was tactically sound, keeping her distance while still attacking and evading the Türkish athlete’s makikomi attempts. It only took 3 minutes for Ozturk to be awarded a 3rd and final shido; Zabic’s rematch with Ozdemir was confirmed.

In the final in Antalya back in March, Zabic scored waza-ari within 10 seconds against Ozdemir, but eventually succumbed to penalties as she braced against the onslaught that followed. In Zagreb, the final ended much sooner. Zabic couldn’t keep Ozdemir at bay and the Turkish athlete rolled her over with sumi-otoshi to score ippon just inside the 2nd minute securing a superb 6th grand prix gold medal. At 35 years of age, she continues to be a force to be reckoned with in the weight class. Can she secure an Olympic medal in Paris next year, the only one missing from her collection?

Vukovic and Ozturk squared off for the first bronze medal in the category. With the crowd cheering her on, Vukovic began well, putting in several good dropping attacks, but later picked up two penalties to Ozturk’s one. In golden score, Ozturk eventually scored waza-ari with soto-makikomi to break Croatian hearts and earn her first ever grand prix medal, after her 3 bronzes at grand slam level.

The second bronze medal contest saw Camara take on 20-year-old Sydnee Andrews (NZL), who defeated Morillo (DOM) in their repechage match and had been impressive all day. The match was a fiery encounter, with Andrews pushing forward aggressively from the first “hajime.” Camara picked up two shidos and the New Zealander saw her moment; she countered the French fighter’s o-uchi-gari, flattening her with ko-soto-gake for ippon. Andrews makes history for herself and for her country with her first grand prix medal and also the first for New Zealand since the IJF World Tour was established. Her future is a bright one!

After receiving her medal, Andrews said, “I am grateful and humble to have these opportunities and although it was a challenge to get through the day without a coach, I had my teammate Moira here and she made a big difference. I’m looking forward to using this as a platform for our country’s judo future."