Japanese heavyweight Kanta Nakano impresses at Belgian Open in Visé

The first day of the International Ethias Belgian Open was held in Visé on Saturday 28 January and it proved to be an exciting event as usual with lots of space for talent. The competition saw competitors from all over the world, including France, the Netherlands, Japan, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Belgium and Sweden.

In the U60 weight category, Romain Valadier Picard of France took first place as he bested Tibo Volleman of the Netherlands in the final quick and efficient. Bart Weling of the Netherlands came third by defeating his French opponent. Japanese youngster Hisato Ito joint third place in the causy Arena in Visé. The Junior European Champion of junior world number three of the world in 2021 was convincing during the whole day and is clearly exceeding the level in Visé.

In the U73 weight category, Hans-Jorris Ahibo of France was first and highlighted the final with efficient judo against his compatriot Zakary Ainseba. Jonathan Houkes was convincing for a bronze medal against Khusniddin Karimov of the Czech Republic. Antonin Blandin of France took a joint third place as he overcame home player Zelemkhan Batchaev who finished fifth.

In the competitive U90 weight category, Teo L'Herbier of France claimed the gold medal after a fast decision by ippon against Floris Den Hartog of the Netherlands. Max Laborde of France and Mistral Janssen of the Netherlands took the bronze medals. Laborde defeated Vsevolod Klymov of Ukraine for bronze and Mistral Janssen defeated Loek Van der Veld in a tough battle by wazari. The level in this weight division was quite close.

Finally, in the +100kg weight category, Kanta Nakano of Japan was first as he threw Clément Delvert of France in a few seconds in the final. Hamza Ouchani of France had some troubles with Emil Mattsson of Sweden who was penalized three times. Paul Devos of France joint third place as he was better than Cedric Caillon of France.

The International Ethias Belgian Open delivered some high level judo within a range of athletes that are seeking to make the connection to the top in their country.

Watch all photos from Visé in the link below