Petrunjela Pavić’s Sumi-gaeshi Seals -78 kg Crown

Petrunjela Pavić of Croatia claimed the -78 kg title after a dramatic final against Japan’s Mao Izumi. The Croatian judoka overturned an early deficit with a powerful Sumi-gaeshi that was upgraded to Ippon following video review.

Izumi entered the final with significant experience and recent results behind her. The 29-year-old is a two-time Grand Slam winner and 2019 Asian-Pacific champion, and had collected silver at the Qazaqstan Barysy Grand Slam in 2025 before taking bronze at the Tokyo Grand Slam later that year. She also finished fifth at the Tashkent Grand Slam in February.

Pavić, 25, had built momentum through European competition. The 2022 European U23 champion won the Sarajevo European Open in 2025 and added bronze at the Dubrovnik Senior European Cup earlier this year.

The final initially appeared to be slipping away from Pavić. She found herself behind by a yuko and a Waza-ari, leaving her with a serious gap to close against a leading Japanese opponent. But the Croatian stayed active and found the decisive moment with Sumi-gaeshi.

The throw was first scored as Waza-ari. After video review, however, it was upgraded to Ippon, ending the contest and delivering gold to Pavić.

A single Sumi-gaeshi transformed the entire -78 kg final.

Pavić said the comeback gave her confidence ahead of the world championships, pointing to the physical and mental demands of recovering after falling behind. She also highlighted the support of her teammates and said the team would move directly into training camps in Bratislava and Germany to work on technique and fight positioning.

The bronze medals also went to European athletes. France’s Fanny Estelle Posvite defeated Poland’s Eliza Wróblewska in golden score after the pair had each received two penalties during the opening four minutes. Posvite countered an attack with a light De-ashi-barai for yuko to secure a place on the podium.

Slovenia’s Metka Lobnik took the other bronze medal against Germany’s Julie Hölterhoff. A precisely applied Shime-waza gave Lobnik the win and her second medal at this level.

The final standings placed Pavić first, Izumi second, and Posvite and Lobnik in third. Wróblewska and Hölterhoff finished fifth, while Germany’s Lea Schmid and the Netherlands’ Marit Kamps were seventh.

Source: IJF.org

Image source: IJF / International Judo Federation