WORLD
Israeli judokas Sasson and Paltchik take home gold medals in Tel Aviv Grand Prix
Baku, January 27, AZERTAC
Judokas Or Sasson and Peter Paltchik brought pride to Israel on Saturday when they won each gold medals at the 2020 Grand Prix in Tel Aviv, an important stage ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, according to TPS news agency.
Israel won two gold medals, and one bronze to mark the historic season opener with “a dominant display which showed the world the power of Israeli judo and the national governing body’s incredible capacity to deliver a world-class sporting masterpiece,” the International Judo Federation (IFJ) stated.
Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Sasson concluded the Grand Prix on a positive note and won +100kg gold after beating South Korea’s Kim Sungmin.
Paltchik, who was injured in 2019 and returned to the competition this year, overpowered Leonardo Goncalves and won the gold in the -100kg category.
Tal Flicker won a bronze in the -66kg category on Thursday.
A total of 545 judokas, 232 women and 313 men, from 83 countries on five continents arrived for the competition in Tel Aviv, the second time Israel is hosting the important sporting event.
Israel ranked third globally, after South Korea and Japan.