SCOREBOARD: Olympic champs Chen, Majlinda and Trstenjak claim wins

China's Olympic Badminton Champion Long Chen (Photo: BWF/Remy Gros)

A good weekend for Olympic champions from 2016 at the Yonex French Open in badminton and in the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam on the IJF World Tour:

BADMINTON ● China’s 2016 Rio Olympic Champion Long Chen defended his 2018 title in the Yonex French Open with a straight-set win over Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie, 21-19, 21-12.

Indonesia and Korea split the other four titles available. Koreans won two women’s titles behind Se Young An in Singles – defeating Olympic champ Carolina Marin (ESP) – and in Doubles with See Hee Lee and Seung Chan Shin, beating fellow Koreans So Yeong Kim and Hee Yong Kong.

Indonesia’s no. 1-ranked Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo won the men’s Doubles and Praveen Jordan and Melati Oktavianti upset no. 1-ranked (and defending champs) Si Wei Zhang and Ya Qiong Huang of China, 22-24, 21-16, 21-12. Finals:

BWF World Tour/Yonex French Open
Paris (FRA) ~ 22-27 October 2019
(Full results here)

Men/Singles: Long Chen (CHN) d. Jonatan Christie (INA), 21-19, 21-12. Men/Doubles: Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA) d. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (IND), 21-18, 21-16.

Women/Singles: Se Young An (KOR) d. Caroline Marin (ESP), 16-21, 21-18, 21-5. Women/Doubles: See Hee Lee/Seung Chan Shin (KOR) d. So Yeong Kim/Hee Yong Kong (KOR), 16-21, 21-19, 21-12.

Mixed Doubles: Praveen Jordan/Melati Oktavianti (INA) d. Si Wei Zhang/Ya Qiong Huang (CHN), 22-24, 21-16, 21-12.

CURLING ● Dunstone and Fleury take first Grand Slam of Curling wins at The Masters

The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling, the top-end tour in the sport with the top teams played in Canada, started this weekend in North Bay, Ontario with The Masters.

The men’s tournament went to Canadian Matt Dunstone’s team, which defeated 2018 Worlds bronze winner Bruce Mouat’s Scottish team in the semis (5-4) and then scored an 8-5 win over 2017 World Champion Brad Gushue (CAN) in the final. It was the first Grand Slam title for the 24-year-old Dunstone. “It’s a dream,” he said afterwards.

The women’s division went to another first-time victor, Canadian Tracy Fleury, whose squad defeated Japan’s Sayaka Yoshimura in the final, 7-5. Fleury eliminated the 2018 Olympic Champion in Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg in the semis (7-5), while Yoshimura was busy beating the reigning World Champion, Swiss Silvana Tirinzoni, 7-4. “It feels amazing,” Fleury said. “It was tough being so close in the past a couple of times. To finally pull it off it really means a lot.”

JUDO ● A large field of 551 judoka from 95 nations came to the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, but in the end, the winners included two Olympic gold medalists as well as a celebrated World Champion.

All of these were in the women’s division, as Rio winners Majlinda Kelmendi (KOS: 52 kg) and Tina Trstenjak (SLO: 63 kg) triumphed, as did two-time World Champion Daria Bilodid (UKR) at 48 kg. Bilodid won her third career Grand Slam title and her first in Abu Dhabi. Kelmendi won her fourth Abu Dhabi title.

In the men’s division, Spain’s Nikoloz Sherazadishvili – the 2018 World Champion at 90 kg – won his division over Donghan Gwak (KOR) in the final. Fellow former World Champion Guham Cho (KOR) won at 100 kg against Zelym Kotsoiev (AZE). Korea took the most medals with eight (3-1-4). Finals:

IJF World Tour/Abu Dhabi Grand Slam
Abu Dhabi (UAE) ~ 24-26 October 2019
(Full results here)

Men: 60 kg: Gusman Kyrgybayev (KAZ) d. Walide Khyar (FRA). 66 kg: Manuel Lombardo (FRA) d. Orkhan Safarov (AZE). 73 kg: Bilal Ciloglu (TUR) d. Arthur Margelidon (CAN). 81 kg: Moon Jin Lee (KOR) d. Luka Maisuradze (GEO). 90 kg: Nikoloz Sherazadishvili (ESP) d. Donghan Gwak (KOR). 100 kg: Guham Cho (KOR) d. Zelym Kotsoiev (AZE). +100 kg: Roy Meyer (NED) d. Yakiv Khammo (UKR).

Women: 48 kg: Daria Bilodid (UKR) d. Marusa Stangar (SLO). 52 kg: Majlinda Kelmendi (KOS) d. Odette Giuffrida (ITA). 57 kg: Jin A. Kim (KOR) d. Sarah Leonie Cysique (FRA). 63 kg: Tina Trstenjak (SLO) d. Maylin Del Toro Carvajal (CUB). 70 kg: Kim Polling (NED) d. Sanne van Dijke (NED). 78 kg: Klara Apotekar (SLO) d. Luise Malzahn (GER). +78 kg: Mi Jin Han (KOR) d. Anne Fatoumata M Bairo (FRA).

SPORT CLIMBING ● In the final IFSC World Cup of the season, Korean star Jain Kim won her 30th career World Cup title with a win over World Champion Janja Garnbret (SLO) to highlight the competition in Inzai (JPN).

Third in the women’s event was Korea’s Chae-Hyun Seo, who won the seasonal title with 480 points, with Garnbret second at 352 and Japan’s Natsyki Tanii third at 243.

Japan’s Hiroto Shimizu, 23, won his first World Cup gold in the men’s Lead event, but Adam Ondra won the seasonal title with 300 points, ahead of Alberto Gines Lopez of Spain (256) and Sean McColl of Canada (206). Summaries:

IFSC World Cup
Inzai (JPN) ~ 26-27 October 2019
(Full results here)

Men/Lead: 1. Hiroto Shimizu (JPN), 38+; 2. Alberto Gines Lopez (ESP), 36+; 3. Stefano Ghisolfi (ITA), 32+; 4. Yuki Hada (JPN), 28+; 5. Jesse Grupper (USA), 28+. Also: 8. Sean Bailey (USA), 19+.

Final Standings: 1. Adam Ondra (CZE), 300; 2. Alberto Gines Lopez (ESP), 256; 3. Sean McColl (CAN), 206; 4. Kai Harada (JPN), 195; 5. Stefano Ghisolfi (ITA), 190. Also in the top 10: 9. Sean Bailey (USA), 158.

Women/Lead: 1. Jain Kim (KOR), Top; 2. Janja Garnbret (SLO), 39; 3. Chae-Hyun Seo (KOR), 37+; 4. Akiyo Noguchi (JPN), 36+; 5. Miho Nonaka (JPN), 34+.

Final Standings: 1. Chae-Hyun Seo (KOR), 480; 2. Janja Garnbret (SLO), 352; 3. Natsuki Tanii (JPN), 243; 4. Lucka Rakovec (SLO), 226; 5. 5. Akiyo Noguchi (JPN), 224.