Olympic winner and world judo champion Lukáš Krpálek won a bronze medal at the Grand Slam in Antalya. David Klammert achieved the same success after the life tournament.
While 30-year-old Krpálek added another precious metal to his rich collection, Klammert, four years younger, is celebrating his greatest career success. Both confirmed good form two weeks before the European Championships in Lisbon.
Krpálek entered the Grand Slam as the world number one. He did not succeed in the semi-heavyweight semifinals against Tamerlane Basayev from Russia, he lost to the same opponent four months ago in the quarterfinals of the European Championships in Prague.
However, he made his taste in a duel for bronze. He won the duel over Temur Rachimov from Tajikistan ahead of the ippon time limit.
“After a long time, I managed to win a medal at such a big competition. Even though it is bronze, it is a huge success. I appreciate it immensely. Although it is still important before us – the Olympics and Europe,” cheered Krpálek.
He ran out of energy in a duel with Bashayev. “I wanted to return the defeat from Prague, there was not much missing. But in the extension I soured with him in a duel on the ground, my hands completely fell off. I no longer had the strength, unfortunately he threw me,” he described.
On the contrary, he was happy that he won the final duel. “I succeeded. He is a very unpleasant and very difficult opponent for me, but I had the match under control,” Krpálek praised himself.
Klammert achieved life success at the age of 26. The Czech national team competing in the weight up to 90 kg in the bronze medal match defeated Komronshoch Ustopirijon from Tajikistan. Klammert once took third place in the world competition, but in 2018 in Tunis it was at the lower Grand Prix.
Although he already had two reprimands against Ustopyrijon, he succeeded in the wazari technique in the golden score. He ended the overtime after a minute and 20 seconds.
“After three years, I have a medal from the IJF event. The first from the Grand Slam and especially the Olympic Grand Slam. I’m very happy, thanks to that I’m closer to the dream start at the Olympics. It was a difficult day, six matches, two overtimes. convulsions, “he admitted. Ustopirijon had previously eliminated the Czech junior Martin Bezděk in a spider.
In a weight of up to 57 kg, Věra Zemanová finished in the second round, in which she was not enough for the incumbent world champion Canadian Christa Deguchi. At the same stage, the world champion Adam Kopecký (up to 81 kg) dropped out during his premiere in the elite series, and the Olympic winner from Rio Ital Fabio Basile eliminated Jan Svoboda in the “seventy-three”.
For elite Czech judokas, the Grand Slam in Antalya was not only a chance to score in the Olympic rankings, but also a preparation for the European Championships, which will take place in Lisbon from 16 to 18 April.
The team will now be joined by David Pulkrábek and Jaromír Musil, who did not start in Turkey due to a training failure after covid-19.
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