The morning of the Zadar International Open on Sept. 20, Croatia’s first IBJJF championship event, was marked by a rainstorm and flooding that had apparently not been seen in years. The rain subsided as the day went on, but things remained furious within the venue, with competitors both international and domestic putting on some fantastic fights.
For the black belt adult divisions, the results were as follows:
The only black belt match-up at weight came in the lightweight division, with Samuel Hertzog of UAE Jiu-Jitsu taking on Roger Gracie student Oliver Geddes. Samuel took the victory and the gold medal after ten minutes with a strong and pressuring top game, winning by one advantage for a near guard pass.
The absolute division, a little later in the day, gave the other black belts present the opportunity to fight that they had been waiting for, and they wasted no time in putting on some exciting and competitive matches.
Samuel Hertzog defeated Switzerland’s Thomas Oyarzun in a hard-fought contest, much of which took place in the 50/50 guard. In the end the score was 4-4, and Samuel secured the win by two advantages. In turn, Samuel was defeated by Antonio Henrique Junior of Roger Gracie London with a straight footlock after a back and forth match, granting Antonio his place in the open weight final. His opponent, local fighter Damir Salina, defeated Antonio’s teammate Oliver Geddes by 10-2 in a dominant performance in the semi-final to advance to the final.
Like the rest of the matches of the day, the final was highly competitive, with Damir sweeping Antonio twice and being swept back in return, before Antonio was able to secure a tight kneebar from the half guard which forced Damir to tap out. This marked “Juniao”‘s first IBJJF black belt open weight title, and one he earned with style.
In the teams division, results were:
1 – CheckMat – 91
2 – Gracie Barra – 62
3 – Alliance International – 37
4 – Nova Uniao NYC – 30
5 – Roger Gracie – 16
6 – Roger Gracie Vienna – 15
7 – Clube de Jiu-jitsu Pitbull Europe – 14
8 – Carlson Gracie International – 13
9 – Carlos Maia Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy – 13
10 – Alliance – 13
For full results, go to ibjjf.com
To see full results go here: http://static.ibjjfdb.com/Campeonato/000298/en-US/Results.pdf
To see a full photo album go here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.959776630704336.1073742056.192240324124641
