Yonezuka Returns to the Podium with Bronze in Linz

From March 6–8, 2026, the international judo community gathered in Linz, Austria for the Upper Austria Grand Prix, one of the early highlights of the 2026 IJF World Tour calendar. Hosted at the TipsArena, the event welcomed nearly 400 athletes from around 50 nations, all competing for valuable ranking points and a place on the podium.

As for our Hatashita / FUJI Sports athletes:

Linz continues to be a lucky city for Jack Yonezuka. After winning his first ever IJF World Tour bronze medal at the Upper Austria Grand Prix in 2024, Jack returned on the podium two years later to claim his second IJF World Tour bronze medal in the -73kg category.

Yonezuka opened his campaign with a tactical win over Zelemkhan Batchaev (BEL), who picked up a third shido early in the third minute. In the next round, he showed resilience after Yehonatan Elbaz (ISR) scored early with ko-uchi-gari. Yonezuka responded with a circling o-uchi-gari for yuko and secured the win seconds before the end of regulation with another well timed o-uchi-gari.

In the quarterfinal, Guilherme De Oliveira (BRA) attempted a sumi-gaeshi attack, but Yonezuka capitalized on the exchange and pinned the Brazilian for ippon. His semifinal against Bilal Ciloglu (TUR) was tightly contested before Ciloglu managed a koshi-guruma for waza-ari in Golden Score.

That loss sent Yonezuka into the bronze medal contest against 2016 Olympic Champion Fabio Basile (ITA). The match remained scoreless through regulation, but in Golden Score Yonezuka timed a sharp kosoto-gake as Basile initiated sumi-gaeshi. The waza-ari secured the victory and another IJF World Tour medal for the rising American.

Elsewhere for the FUJI and Hatashita Sports team, Dominic Rodriguez and Johan Silot both won their opening matches in the -81kg category on day two of competition, while Christopher Velazco opened his campaign with a victory in the -60kg category on day one.

Daniel Liubimovki faced a difficult draw, meeting top seed and eventual gold medalist Anton Savytskiy (UKR) in his opening match. Liubimovki pushed the bout to the limit but narrowly lost by yuko.

Following a successful outing at the Tashkent Grand Slam, where Maria Laborde captured bronze, Hatashita Sports athletes continued their World Tour campaign in Linz. Laborde, along with Toni Pepia, Noran Elmahroukey, Emily Jaspe, and Lenny Sheynfeld, all stepped onto the tatami to represent the team at the Upper Austria Grand Prix, each dropping their opening contest.

With another IJF World Tour event now in the books, the focus quickly shifts to the next stop on the circuit. The international judo community will gather again in just a few weeks’ time for the Tbilisi Grand Slam in Georgia.