Judo Jerusalem Masters: Christmas comes early for many Judoka

It was the final day of the World Judo Masters, here in Jerusalem and it did not disappoint, as it continued the incredible momentum of the previous 2!

Hundreds of excited Judo fans packed the Pais Arena to cheer on their heroes!

At -90kg, Murao Sanshiro was on blistering form. 2 Waza-ari scores in the final saw the young Japanese judoka become World Judo Master.

Armen Bagdasarov IJF Head Referee Director was on hand to award the medals.

This year has witnessed the meteoric rise of Italian star, Alice Bellandi! Moving up a weight category, she has taken the under 78kg class by storm, and can now add World Master to her list of accolades.

She was awarded her medals by IJF EC Member, Lisa Allan

Israel is always incredible, they celebrate with me, like they were my parents. So, it’s really really nice.

Alice Bellandi

Italian Judoka

In the-100kg category, Georgian rising star Ilia Sulamanidze took home the gold.

He was awarded his medal by Hili Tropper, the Israeli Minister of Culture & Sports.

First friends and then rivals, the +78kg final saw 2 French compatriots Romane Dicko and Coralie Hayme fight it out for the women’s heavyweight title. A clever sacrifice technique saw the current World Champion, Dicko, become concurrent Master.

The medals were awarded by Shabtai Tsur, ISBB Chairman.

At +100kg rising star Saito Tatsuru blasted his way to the finals with beautiful judo. There, he held down Rakhimov to take the heavyweight Masters title.

The medals were awarded by Florin Daniel Lascau IJF Head Referee Director

My mother takes care of me all the time and supports me a lot. I’m so happy and that I was able to give her the top prize: the gold medal”

Tatsuru Saito

Japanese Judoka

Famous astronaut, Eytan Stibbe was honoured by the Israel Judo Association and its President Moshe Ponte, as he returned from space with the judo association’s flag.

Each year, the Israel stop on the World Judo tour is incredibly exciting! The passion of the local fans is matched only by that of the athletes they cheer for!

Today, Peter Paltchik was their hero, and he put on quite the show – bringing the spectators in the arena to their feet on multiple occasions. Not forgetting, of course, the fan-favourite: Raz Hershko!

What a way to say goodbye to 2022 – with fantastic Judo, in the historic city of Jerusalem, in a country that couldn’t love the martial art, more.

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