By Nick Butler

Teddy Riner (right) extended his remarkable unbeaten streak by easing to heavyweight gold in Jeju ©IJFTeddy Riner underlined his status as the undisputed star of the sport by winning - yet again - on the final day of action at the International Judo Federation (IJF) Grand Prix in Jeju.


The reigning Olympic champion and seven-time world champion, who is undefeated since 2010, eased to  heavyweight victory over South Korea's number two seed Kim Sung-Min, with even the home crowd unable to inspire a shock result.

Kim was unwilling to engage with the French legend and paid the price as he received four shido penalties to hand Riner victory, while Maciej Sarnacki of Poland and Vladut Simionescu of Romania shared the two bronze medals.

Riner earns 300 points for gold but remains second on the IJF World Ranking List, 40 points behind Rafael Silva of Brazil, who was absent in Jeju but will compete next week in the IJF Grand Slam in Tokyo.

There may have been South Korean disappointment in the heavyweight category, but there was plenty of success elsewhere as the host nation won three of the other four available titles.

Asian Games bronze medallist Cho Guham defeated Beijing 2008 Olympic champion Naidan Tuvshinbayar in the under 100kg division, reaping the benefits of moving down from the heavier division ahead of this season.

In the over 78kg women's heavyweight event, the domination stepped up a level further as Kim Jiyoun secured host nation gold in an all South Korean final after defeating team mate Lee Eunju in a tightly contested bout in which Lee was penalised three times for passivity.

Kim Jiyoun (second left) celebrates her women's heavyweight victory on another hugely successful day for South Korea ©IJFKim Jiyoun (second left) celebrates her women's heavyweight victory on another hugely successful day for South Korea ©IJF




In the under 90kg event, meanwhile, Gwak Dong Han won Jeju Grand Prix gold for the second year in a row after overcoming Mammadali Mehidyev of Azerbaijan, with an early waza-ari before a superb ippon to close the contest.

Germany, France, Ukraine, Belgium and Azerbaijan, as well as South Korea, were the six countries to secure bronze medals in these three divisions.

But, on a day in which only France and South Korea won gold, there was also a superb victory for France's 2011 world champion Audrey Tcheumeo in the under 78kg event.

The 24-year-old chalked up a richly-deserved victory by defeating Germany's Abu Dhabi Grand Slam winner Luise Malzahn, with world number four Malzahn twice penalised in a scoreless contest, with the latter and decisive indiscretion coming for being forced out of the area.

Bronze medals were secured by South Korea's Choi Mi-Young and London 2012 Olympic champion Kayla Harrison of the United States.

The tournament marked the penultimate step of a gruelling year on the IJF World Judo Tour, with the Tokyo Grand Slam from December 5 to 7 early next month bringing the season to a close.

Watch the latest action on Judo TV here.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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