October 17, 2021 - The world #1 judoka Barbara Matić continues with stellar results this year, taking home the silver medal from the judo Grand Slam in Paris over the weekend. 

Croatian judoka Barbara Matić won second place at one of the strongest judo tournaments in the world, the Grand Slam in Paris, reports T.portal. 

The world champion won the silver medal in the category up to 70 kg, while Zlatko Kumrić lost in the category up to 100 kilograms in the semifinals, and then in the fight for bronze and finished fifth.

What Wimbledon is for tennis, the Paris grand slam is for judo. The jubilee 50th anniversary of the Grand Slam in the capital of France seems to have additionally inspired the Croatian duo.

"Competing in Paris is something special. Apart from the fact that there were more than 10,000 people in the beautiful hall, they are all judo experts, and it is a pleasure to fight there," they both agreed after the current world champion Matić finished with a silver medal. Kumrić took fifth place in Paris for the fourth time in his career.

In her first appearance after the Tokyo Olympics, the first with a new red inscription on her back as the current world champion, she dominated until the final by defeating Mongolian Tserendulam and British Petersen Pollard. But in the final, Japan’s Niizoe was better.

"I didn't feel most ready before Paris, but I'm happy with the first competition, and a silver medal at the Grand Slam is always a good result. Of course, I always want to win all the fights, but today Niizoe took advantage of the situation and she threw me. I failed, and she won gold," said Matić, who very likely secured number 1 on the world ranking scale of the category up to 70 kg at the end of 2021, thanks to these points in Paris. 

Kumrić lost to Russian Ademian in the final block, first in the semifinals and on the same stage of the European Games in Minsk in 2019, and then he lost to Georgian Saneblidze in the fight for bronze.

"It was a good day, I reached the semifinals, but it's time to win that medal; I'm starting to hate fifth place," Kumric said after the defeat in the bronze medal fight.

Karla Prodan (up to 78 kg) and Marko Kumrić (up to 100 kg) also competed on Sunday.

The Split judoka lost in the last minute against Japanese judoka Takayama, who won silver in Paris. Her younger brother Kumrić dominated against the Frenchman Delvert, forced him to two penalties, but then fell in the end. 

The next IJF World Tour tournament is the Grand Slam Baku in Azerbaijan (November 5-7).

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August 20, 2021 - Following the Tokyo Olympics, the International Judo Federation (IJF) has announced a new ranking of the world’s best judokas. The current world champion and the best Croatian judoka, Barbara Matić, took the top spot in the category up to 70 kg, while Karla Prodan is eighth in the category up to 78 kg.

The best result in the performances of Croatian judokas so far at the Olympic Games, fifth place in Tokyo, helped Barbara Matić jump by seven positions and become the first name in the category up to 70 kg, reports HRT.

"I am proud because I sat at the very top of my category. Although the world gold brought the most points, the whole season was good, and the result is world number 1. At the same time, it is my motivation for even stronger work because there are so many quality judokas, and I want to stay on top in the coming years as I look towards Paris," said Matić, while coach Vladimir Preradović offered a similar view:

"This is a great thing for Barbara and Croatian judo and JK Pujanke. It is the result of twenty years of work and commitment to continue to be quality, as well as to raise others, from Karla to younger and new names to come."

Barbara Matić is from Split and is a two-time world junior champion in the women's 70 kg division and the bronze medalist at the 2014 and 2017 European Judo Championships as well. 

The winner of the European senior bronze medal from Prague in 2020, Karla Prodan, jumped 15 places and came in 8th place in the world ranking of the category up to 78 kg.

For the first time in one year, Croatian judo has two names in the Top 10 judokas, in its categories, with winning the first medal at the world championships and the fight for the Olympic medal.

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