Tais Pina, a 17th-ranked judoka, wrapped up her run at the Tbilisi Grand Slam with a 7th-place finish. Her day ended with a loss to Israel’s Adelina Novitziki in the repechage round.
Pina started strong, beating Lebanon’s Aqulina Chayeb with a yuko. Earlier, Chayeb had knocked Pina out of the Austrian Grand Prix.
In the round of 16, Pina dominated Italy’s Irene Pedrotti, winning by ippon in just 42 seconds. But her momentum stalled in the quarterfinals against Sanne Van Dijke. The Dutch judoka, who finished 5th at the Paris 2024 Games, took Pina down with two wazari.
Pina struggled to regain her footing in the repechage. Novitziki caught her off guard, scoring a yuko just 44 seconds in.
The focus now shifts to Patrícia Sampaio, the Olympic bronze medalist, who competes on Sunday. She’s the top-seeded athlete in her category and gets a first-round bye. This is Sampaio’s second outing in the 2025 circuit, following her win at the Paris Grand Slam in February.
© 2024 - Blaze Trends