Georgia wins gold at first day of Judo Gran Slam in Tbilisi

Eteri Liparteliani made it took on former world champion Jessica Klimkait in the final to bring home the gold medal.

Transcript

00:00 Judo stars from around the world arrived in Georgia's capital Tbilisi for the eagerly

00:07 anticipated 2024 edition of its Grand Slam event.

00:12 Inside the Olympic Sports Palace, the crowd awaited the first days of action.

00:17 At under 48 kilograms, Haekyung Lee of Korea overcame Frances Laura Espadina when the superb

00:25 low Yurin Nage scored Ippon to take the title.

00:31 IJF Education and Coaching Director Mohamed Maridja was on hand to award the medals.

00:41 At under 60 kilograms, Nurganak Serikbayev took on Mian Volkzak in the final.

00:47 A sacrifice technique proved to be the deciding factor for Serikbayev as he scored Wazaari

00:53 close to the end of the match and held on for victory.

00:57 He was awarded his medal by Shengeli Pitsgalari, Georgia's State Security Service Deputy

01:02 Head.

01:06 So this is the first competition in Tbilisi for me and it was successful.

01:11 I am very happy about this.

01:12 I like the city.

01:13 It's very nice and friendly.

01:19 At under 52 kilograms, Ariane Toro-Soler faced Anna-Victoria Djipolij.

01:26 It took until golden score but Toro-Soler mustered up the strength to produce this huge

01:31 Ushimata and take the gold medal.

01:37 She was awarded her medal by Juan Carlos Vargos, IJF Coordinator for International Refereeing

01:43 Seminars.

01:44 I like it because I got the gold but it's a good city and it's beautiful to stay here.

01:53 It's very good that the people love judo because it's beautiful to see that she loves this

02:01 sport.

02:02 Ivan Chernik shocked everyone in the under 66 kilogram category, taking the gold in what

02:07 was his first outing of the IJF World Judo Tour.

02:12 The medals were awarded by Massimiliano D'Antuono, Ambassador for Italy in Georgia.

02:18 Then came the moment all Georgian fans were waiting for.

02:22 At under 57 kilogram, home favourite Eteri Lipardeliani made it to the final where she

02:28 would face off against former world champion Jessica Klimkite from Canada.

02:33 To the crowd's delight, Lipardeliani scored early in the fight and battled until the timer

02:38 ran down.

02:39 She was awarded the gold medal by Irakli Medzmariašvili, Member of the Parliament of

02:45 Georgia.

02:46 The proud Georgian team provided their loyal supporters with plenty of thrills throughout

02:50 the day's judo.

02:52 And there are still two more days to go.

02:54 Join us tomorrow for another day of action.

02:56 [MUSIC PLAYING]