A remarkable achievement for Israeli judo: 18-year-old Yitzhak Ashpiz won the bronze medal at the prestigious Paris Grand Slam — one of the sport’s most important tournaments.
On his way to the podium, Ashpiz delivered one of the biggest surprises of the competition by defeating reigning world champion Ryuju Nagayama of Japan. The Japanese judoka had already taken the lead with a waza-ari, but the young Israeli needed only 36 seconds to turn the match around, scoring a spectacular ippon that slammed Nagayama onto the mat and left him in complete shock.
Ashpiz advanced to the semifinals, where he was stopped by yuko against Balabay Aghayev of Azerbaijan. In the bronze medal bout he faced Harem Lee of South Korea, a two-time world championship bronze medalist, and defeated him as well with an impressive ippon to secure the medal. Earlier, he had beaten opponents from Kazakhstan and Italy.
Ashpiz is widely considered the most promising talent in Israeli judo today. He has already won world and European titles at the cadet level, and even before turning 18 captured gold on the senior circuit with victory at the Lima Grand Prix. His medal in Paris — one of the central stages of world judo — further confirms his rising status among the sport’s elite.
Women: Timna Nelson-Levy finished seventh
In the under-57 kg division, Timna Nelson-Levy was eliminated in the repechage and finished seventh. Earlier, she defeated Korea’s Yona Shin, but a mistake in the quarterfinal against Aline Devictor cost her the match.
An unusual incident occurred in the under-63 kg division when Gili Sharir’s round-of-16 bout against Kosovo’s Laura Fazliu ended in a double disqualification after the referee issued both athletes a third penalty. In such a case, both are eliminated and their scheduled next opponent advances automatically to the semifinals. Also in this weight class, Gefen Primo defeated an opponent from South Africa but later lost to France’s Manon Deketer and was eliminated.
In the under-48 kg division, the Tunisian opponent who was supposed to face Tamar Malka withdrew — not unexpectedly — and Malka advanced automatically to the round of 16, where she lost to Spain’s Laura Martínez Abelenda.
In the under-66 kg category, Matan Kokolayev and Adam Yazan both lost their opening bouts.