Pirelli seizes his moment as -100 kg takes a wild turn in Tbilisi

The -100 kg category in Tbilisi delivered the kind of judo day that flips in an instant. Early on, Zelym Kotsoiev of Azerbaijan, the 2024 world champion and reigning Olympic champion, looked on course to control the division. His opening wins were strong, sharp and convincing.

But the bracket shifted fast. Instead of facing 2023 world champion Arman Adamian in the semi-final, Kotsoiev met Simeon Catharina of the Netherlands. Catharina had produced a major result by defeating Adamian, putting himself right into the center of the medal fight.

Their semi-final was intense from the first hajime, but penalties piled up quickly on both sides. Then came the decisive moment: Kotsoiev was disqualified for an illegal action and removed from the final block. In one sequence, the expected path to gold was gone and the whole weight category opened up.

The other side of the draw was just as dramatic. Korrel of the Netherlands eliminated top seed Savytskiy of Ukraine, only to be stopped later by Daniel Eich of Switzerland. Eich’s run then ended in the quarter-final against Italy’s Gennaro Pirelli, who kept building momentum at exactly the right time.

This was one of those judo days where nothing stayed predictable for long.

Pirelli carried that momentum into the semi-final against Niiaz Bilalov. The Italian scored Waza-ari with a kata-guruma in the opening minute and then managed the contest with real control until time expired. That win sent him into a European final against Catharina, ensuring a strong continental spotlight on two athletes who had both taken bronze a year earlier.

The gold medal match was close, tense and stretched deep into golden score. Catharina gradually dropped off the pace and eventually picked up his third penalty. That was the moment it ended: at 25, Pirelli became European champion.

For European judo, the category had a lot to celebrate. Italy took the title, the Netherlands reached the final and also helped shape the biggest upset of the day, while Switzerland made a notable run through a chaotic section of the draw. Bronze medals went to Adamian and Georgia’s Ilia Sulamanidze, with Sulamanidze awarded bronze after Kotsoiev’s direct hansoku-make earlier in the day.

Source: EJU_News