Judo An Baul Wins Paris Grand Slam... Consecutive Gold Medals

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] An Ba-ul (Namyangju City Hall), the silver medalist in judo at the 2016 Rio Olympics, has consecutively won gold medals at International Judo Federation (IJF) sanctioned tournaments.

According to the Korea Judo Association on the 9th, An Ba-ul won the gold medal in the men's 66kg category on the first day of the 2020 Paris Grand Slam held in Paris, France. Following his gold medal at the Tel Aviv Grand Prix held in Tel Aviv, Israel on the 23rd of last month, he added another gold medal to his collection.

An Ba-ul advanced through the first round by default, then won the second and third rounds with seoi nage ippon-waza, and the fourth round with a heel trip ippon-waza, continuing his winning streak. In the fifth round, he defeated Spain's Daniel Perez again with seoi nage ippon-waza, and in the semifinals, he secured an ippon victory with an ankle pick against Mongolia's Baskhu Yondonperenlay to reach the final.

In the final, which was a match between Korean athletes, An Ba-ul earned three shidos against Kim Im-hwan (Korea Racing Authority) and won the gold medal by penalty victory.

After receiving a six-month suspension from the Korea Judo Association early last year due to allegations of document forgery related to military service exemption volunteer activities, An Ba-ul has raised his chances of participating in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by winning consecutive gold medals since the new year.