Scutto took silver at the 2926 World Championships after her gold in Lima and in Zagreb she secured a new golden opportunity.

Final: Assunta Scutto (ITA) vs Galiya Tynbaeva (KAZ)

This was an all-action contest from the beginning but a counter from Scutto earned the first score of the four allotted minutes. However, as they stood up, Tynbaeva caught Scutto for her own yuko and so all was even again.

As the judoka moved into the last minute, Scutto employed her signature seoi-otoshi and gained a new yuko and the lead. Tynbaeva accelerated further in response but this gave her balance to the Italian again and she countered beautifully for a waza-ari. Scutto’s three scores were a clear lead and the gold was hers as the gong sounded.

After the final Assunta Scutto said, “Zagreb is my first pain-free competition since the World Championships and I'm so happy to enjoy it and recover my shoulder. Zagreb is wonderful but I made a mistake by losing focus and need to improve that, staying focused always in the future. My dream for the World Judo Masters is to have another world championship feeling. I am a two-time bronze medallist and I want to win and get a rematch with Koga.”

Bronze medal contest: Oumaima Bedioui (TUN) vs Jacqueline Springer (AUT)

A long ne-waza exchange in the first minute highlighted Bedioui’s skill on the ground. She put Springer under a lot of pressure and decided to go for a similar tactic in the second exchange, dropping in to her back for a sutemi-waza and searching for the hook in ne-waza. However Springer was ready and turned the Tunisian into a ushiro-kesa-gatame which looked solid. Bedioui managed to escape just before the 20-second buzzer but that waza-ari was enough to secure the medal.

Bronze medal contest: Amber Gersjes (NED) vs Wiktoria Slazok (POL)

It was great to see Wiktoria Slazok smiling in her way into the arena. To enjoy this life in elite sport is essential and the Polish competitor was embracing it fully.

Gersjes attempted to impose her strong left-handed gripping from the outset but Slazok had done her research and was able to meet it head-on. Gersjes though is a courageous fighter, one who will go for the attack instead of waiting for the perfect moment. She attacked well with uchi-mata and ko-uchi-gari early on while Slazok stayed focused on the gripping and lacked that positivity.

There was a first penalty for non-combativity for Slazok as Gersjes continued to work towards the all-important score. As the last minute approached, the Polish fighter began to open up more and applied her own ashi-waza but Gersjes countered with a stunning tsubame-gaeshi for a waza-ari, a score that was unlikely to be usurped with only seconds left on the clock.