Travis Stevens shows his best at Grabd Prix Dusseldorf

American Travis Stevens dominated the -81kg category at the Grand Prix of Dusseldorf as he laid siege to his rivals. Stevens flipped world number six over Maresch over with a sumi-gaeshi but despite the German turning and avoiding landing on his back, Stevens pursued his opponent as they moved towards the scoreboard in the safety zone.

Stevens pinned Maresch with a mune-gatame and was not letting go on his bid to return to the top of the World Judo Tour podium. After the 20 seconds elapsed, Stevens stood up and shook the hand of his coach Jimmy Pedro Sr. who was smiling ear-to-ear. 

Tashkent Grand Prix winner Stevens booked his place in the final by holding down Almaty Grand Prix bronze medallist Shukhratjon Arslanov (UZB) for ippon with a mune-gatame. At the same stage Maresch blocked the path of teammate Alexander Wieczerzak by shading their even contest with a yuko after one minute.              

The first bronze medal was won by Arslanov who held on to beat Stanislav Semenov (RUS). The Uzbek judoka went ahead with a waza-ari from a harai-goshi before his opponent scored a yuko from a uchi-mata. Arslanov received three shido penalties for false attacks as he was physically exhausted after a gruelling day but held on to clinch a place on the podium. The second bronze medal was captured by Wieczerzak who thrilled the home crowd by defeating Sirazhudin Magomed by a yuko from an osoto-gari to join his teammate Maresch on the podium.