17-year-old Emma-Melis Aktas takes judo grand prix silver
17-year-old Estonian judoka Emma-Melis Aktas made her senior Grand Prix debut and finished second in a major international tournament in Lima, Peru.
At just 17 years old, Aktas is already the most successful Estonian female judoka in history. With her results in Peru, she is now nearing the top 25 in the adult world rankings.
Thanks to her fifth place at this year's World Championships, Aktas was seeded third ahead of the Grand Prix event, which meant automatic advancement past the first round without a match. In the quarterfinal, Aktas defeated the American Gusmary Garcia Savigne with an ippon (a full point).
She then faced a tough semifinal against Asya Tavano of Italy, this year's European bronze medalist and former Grand Slam winner. Having wrestled Tavano several times this season, Aktas was confident and took the match to overtime. There, she executed a throw and held Tavano down, securing her spot in the final and a guaranteed medal.
In the final, Aktas faced Paris Olympic silver medalist Raz Hershko of Israel. Despite pressuring Hershko and benefiting from two penalties against her, Aktas couldn't capitalize before Hershko scored a yuko (the lowest level of score), leaving Estonia with a silver medal from her Grand Prix debut.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Kristjan Kallaste
