Anton Savytskiy Secures Gold for Ukraine in Zagreb

In the men’s U100kg category of the Grand Prix in Zagreb Anton Savytskiy of the Ukraine was victorious. After Daniel Szegedi’s (HUN) impressive victory on the second day of competition, Hungary entered the third day of the Zagreb Grand Prix with high hopes, particularly in Zsombor Veg (HUN), the top seed in the U100kg category. Veg began his campaign strong, defeating Silvan Bulthuis (NED) with a well-executed sumi-gaeshi followed by a tomoe-nage. In the next round, he showcased his versatility with an uchi-mata and a ko-soto-gake to overcome Zaur Duniamaliiev (UKR).

However, in the quarter-finals, Rhys Thompson (GBR) proved too tough an opponent for Veg. Thompson secured victory with a sumi-otoshi and followed it up with a kata-guruma, eliminating the Hungarian judoka and ending his medal run.

In the second half of the draw, Simeon Catharina (NED) faced a grueling path. His first two rounds went to golden score, where he won both matches with seoi-otoshi, first against his opening-round opponent and then against Iosif Simin (ISR). However, the cumulative fatigue seemed to take its toll as Catharina was defeated in the semi-final by Anton Savytskiy (UKR), who secured his place in the final.

The gold medal contest was a balanced affair between Savytskiy and Thompson, but the Ukrainian judoka edged out his opponent with a perfectly timed o-uchi-gari to score waza-ari. Despite Thompson's attempts with ko-soto-gari, Savytskiy held on to secure the victory and claim the gold for Ukraine.

In the bronze medal matches, Zaur Duniamaliiev (UKR) faced Simeon Catharina (NED) in an intense battle. Catharina initially took the lead with a waza-ari using a ko-uchi-gari, but Duniamaliiev fought back to level the score before the end of regulation time. In golden score, the Ukrainian produced a massive effort to throw Catharina with a hip technique, securing bronze.

The second bronze medal was awarded to Iosif Simin (ISR), as Zsombor Veg (HUN) was unable to compete, giving Israel its place on the podium.