Vedat Albayrak is always in shape in the early spring

The solid Vedat Albayrak (TUR) earned himself a spot in the semi-finals of the Grand Slam in Tbilisi in his category U81kg by making a strong impression. Facing another Georgian judoka, he wasn't overly concerned and took the victory to face Petru Pelivan in the final. Where two weeks ago it didn't work out for Albayrak in Linz, this time the ods were totally different. Like in 2018 and 2021 he again won an IJF World Tour event at the start of the spring.

Things are really moving in the -81 kg category, a category that has always surprised with the number of judoka capable of winning. Some young athletes are pushing hard, while some veterans are still resting, have retired or have changed weights. This always makes the category exciting to follow, with new names appearing through the tournaments.

This was another crazy and exciting final. Ranked only 183 in the world at -81, only recently arrived from the -73 kg category, Pelivan was not afraid to engage with Albayrak. He was the first to score a yuko to take the lead, but then the Turkish judoka scored a waza-ari with a te-waza. Pelivan scored again, but a yuko again also, not enough to stop Albayrak from winning the gold medal. This was close but close is not enough. The gold medal was for Vedat Albayrak and Türkiye.

The first bronze medal match pitted François Gauthier Drapeau against Irakli Beroshvili (GEO). The Canadian’s season has begun with a bang. Winner in Paris at the beginning of February and runner-up two weeks later in Baku, the Canadian judoka has become a firm fixture on the world circuit. Naturally the top seed in Tbilisi, he advanced through the rounds to reach the quarter-finals where he faced Petru Pelivan (MDA), but to everyone's surprise, the latter won.

This time, Gauthier Drapeau didn't step on the podium as he was thrown with an o-uchi-gari in golden score, offering a new medal for the host country. 
France still had a chance for a medal thanks to Arnaud Aregba (FRA) who was facing Zaur Dvalashvili (GEO) for the second bronze medal. Georgia again stepped on the podium with Dvalashvili throwing Aregba with a superb seoi-otoshi for ippon a few seconds after the first hajime.

In Pool B, we followed the progress of Zaur Dvalashvili (GEO), advancing through the preliminaries to join Alpha Oumar Djalo (FRA) in the quarter-finals. In great form today, Dvalashvili eliminated the Frenchman to join Pelivan in the semi-finals. On the fitness scale, it was the latter who climbed the highest, overcoming Zaur Dvalashvili (GEO) and reaching the final.