Triumphs in Dushanbe

Piovesana and Polleres win Grand Slam gold

After judoka Lubjana-Francesca "Lulu" Piovesana had already won the Grand Slam tournament in the Azerbaijani capital Baku in February, the Vorarlberg native struck again on Saturday and triumphed at the Grand Slam in Dushanbe in the 63 kilogram category. Not the only gold for Austria.

After the number one seed Piovesana had started the competition with a walk-through, she prevailed in the round of 16 after 2:57 minutes thanks to two Waza-ari scores against Eter Askilashvili (Geo). In the quarter-finals, she faced Russia's Kamila Badurova - and "Lulu" held her nerve there too, securing victory in the pool and a place in the semi-finals with an ippon after 3:24 minutes.

Lightning victory in the semi-final
The 27-year-old partner of Ländle parade judoka Laurin Böhler faced Italian hopeful Savita Russo in the semi-finals. However, Piovesana made short work of the 18-year-old and won the fight by ippon after just 50 seconds. In the grand final against Russia's Dali Liluashvili, a waza-ari was enough for "Lulu" to claim the second Grand Slam title of her career.

Michi Polleres secured her third Grand Slam title after Tashkent 2023 and Antalya in March 2024.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Polleres also triumphs
Shortly afterwards, Michaela Polleres was also able to celebrate gold in the 70 kilogram category. The Lower Austrian, who was also seeded number one, stormed into the final with victories over Weillems (Bel), Gercsak (Ung) and Pogacnik (Slo), where she defeated Croatia's Lara Cvjetko early after two waza-ari scores.

Silver for Borchasvhili
Wachid Borchashvili also put in a strong performance. The 25-year-old from Upper Austria only had to concede defeat in the 81 kilogram class to Japan's Yoshito Hojo in the final, who prevailed with an ippon after 2:12 minutes.