Andreea Chitu strikes at Grand Prix Jeju

World silver medallist Andreea Chitu (ROU) earned her latest Grand Prix title on the opening day of the Grand Prix Jeju with a win in the -52kg final over Kodokan Cup runner-up Shishime Ai (JPN). Chitu, who won the Tashkent Grand Prix last month, fought 20-year-old Japanese judoka Shishime for the right to stand on top of the podium and scored ippon with an uki-goshi in the second minute without too much resistance from her opponent.

The first semi-final saw Andreea Chitu (ROU) face ADIYASAMBUU Tsolmon (MGL) in a rematch of the Tashkent Grand Prix final. The outcome was the same as in Uzbekistan with the Romanian victorious as a result of a hold down being so forceful that the Mongolian elected to submit. In the second semi-final SHISHIME Ai (JPN) dismissed European bronze medallist Gili COHEN (ISR) to guarantee her first appearance on an IJF podium in 2014.

The first bronze medal was clinched by beaten semi-finalist COHEN who defeated Glasgow European Open winner Lucile DUPORT (FRA). COHEN scored a yuko from a ko-uchi-gake which proved to be the only score of the contest as Israel’s women continued their successful start in Jeju. The second bronze medal was won by former European bronze medallist Laura GOMEZ (ESP) who defeated 22-year-old World Team silver medallist ADIYASAMBUU. GOMEZ, who was coached by former world bronze medallist AN Jeong-Hwan for the first time, executed a neat turnover in ne-waza with control of her opponent to then apply tate-shiho-gatame.