Austrian Magdalena Krssakova takes gold at Cancun Grand Prix

Austrian Magdalena Krssakova completed her Grand Prix hat-trick with victory on day two in Mexico. Former Tyumen Grand Slam gold medallist Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard (CAN) took silver as Krssakova won her third Grand Prix gold and the most important title of her career.

The final U63kg was decided when the Canadian judoka was penalised with her third shido for a gripping infringement after keeping two hands on one side for too long without attacking.

Teammate and world number eight Kathrin Unterwurzacher (AUT) was the top seed but lost out in her opening contest against Britain’s Piovesana.

In the first semi-final Beauchemin-Pinard proved too strong for world number nine Katharina Haecker (AUS) as the Canadian progressed by a waza-ari score which was the only time the scoreboard was called into action in the four minute contest.

In the second semi-final Tbilisi Grand Prix bronze medallist Lubjana Piovesana (GBR) was second best against Antalya Grand Prix gold medallist Krssakova. Piovesana opened the scoring with a waza-ari from a ko-soto-gake before her Austrian rival replied with a ko-uchi-gari for a waza-ari of her own. In golden score Piovesana went for a ura-nage but was countered for ippon.

The first bronze medal contest pitted teammates and training partners against each other as world number 25 Amy Livesey (GBR) faced world number 30 Piovesana. SKK Judo Club’s Livesey defeated her compatriot by a single waza-ari score from an o-uchi-gari in a result which keeps the Merseyside judoka ahead of her younger teammate on the IJF World Ranking List. A third Grand Prix medal for Livesey was her country’s first medal in Cancun and it was no surprise that Great Britain’s flourishing women’s team was the source.

The second bronze medal was won by Zagreb Grand Prix bronze medallist Alexia Castilhos (BRA) who beat Australia’s Haecker. The world number 36 from Brazil rolled Haecker over for a waza-ari after just 26 seconds and comfortably held on as her adversary failed to trouble the scoreboard. Castilhos has now won three Grand Prix bronze medals and is very much in the frame for Tokyo 2020.