Martin Pacek realises first Swedish Grand Slam victory

Swedish judoka Martin Pacek took Swedish Judo to a new level in Tyumen as he won his country’s first Grand Slam gold medal by beating Tbilisi Grand Prix bronze medallist Jevgenijs Borodavko from Latvia in the U100kg final. World number 27 Borodavko who led 4-2 in their head-to-head record before today, was beaten in their highest profile meeting to date as world number 11 Pacek scored an ouchi-gari with a yuko which was decisive.

Pacek, who was the Ulaanbaatar Grand Prix silver medallist, said: “This is a real honour for me and is not something that I take lightly. I am pleased with where I am at the moment and physically I feel good. I will now step up my preparations for the World Championships.”

In the first semi-final Pacek defeated former Zagreb Grand Prix silver medallist Aleksandre Mskhaladze (GEO). The Swedish judoka attacked with a harai-goshi but Mskhaladze dangerously tried to catch the standing leg of his rival with an ouchi-gari from being behind Pacek and received hansoku-make for that illegal infringment. In the second semi-final Borodavko was too strong for African champion Lyes Bouyacoub (ALG) as he prevailed by ippon from osaekomi as the Algerian judoka could not escape the clutches of his rival.  

The first bronze medal was won by European Games bronze medallist Toma Nikiforov (BEL) who overwhelmed Bouyacoub by ippon. The second bronze medal was captured by Samsun Grand Prix silver medallist Karl-Richard Frey(GER) as Mskhaladze had been disqualified in the previous round and could not compete.