On the final day of the Grand Prix in Linz, Slovenia was represented by Metka Lobnik and Gal Bertalanič Žižek.

Gal Bertalanič Žižek was the first Slovenian to step onto the tatami in the TipsArena. After receiving a bye in the opening round, he faced Israel’s Iosif Simin in the second round. The two competitors started the contest cautiously, both trying to establish a dominant grip, and with no serious action in the opening minute, both were penalized. The Slovenian then managed to establish a good grip, but Simin reacted quickly and threw him onto his side with a low technique. The Israeli did not stop there, immediately continuing in groundwork, transitioning into an arm lock and forcing Bertalanič Žižek to submit.

"I’m not very satisfied with the match, because I really wanted to win. My opponent surprised me a little, as I expected to dominate the grip fight, but that didn’t happen," Bertalanič Žižek said after the contest.

He added that the opponent proved tougher than he and his coach had initially expected: "My opponent was much stronger than we had assessed. After scoring yuko against me, he began turning me over to apply juji-gatame, and unfortunately I wasn’t able to save my arm."

Like most of the national team members, Bertalanič Žižek now faces international training camps ahead of the peak of the spring season: "We are now heading to Nymburk, and soon after returning I will fly to Georgia, where I will compete at the Tbilisi Grand Slam. After that, I will stay there for a training camp as well," said the 23-year-old Slovenian judoka.

Far more successful was Metka Lobnik, last year’s bronze medallist in Linz. Seeded second in her category, she had a bye in the opening round and then faced young French judoka Lila Mazzarino at this venue for the second year in a row. The two-time junior European champion once again had no answer to the aggressive performance of the Slovenian, who pressured her opponent from the very first second and tried to gain the upper hand with low attacks. After just over a minute and a half, the Frenchwoman received her first penalty, and due to Lobnik’s clear superiority in all aspects of the contest, she soon picked up a second one. With time running out, Mazzarino tried to attack more decisively, but without real effect. Just over half a minute before the end, she received a third penalty for a poor attack, sending the Slovenian through to the quarter-finals.

In the quarter-finals, the 24-year-old Slovenian faced Finland’s Emma Krapu and once again entered the match aggressively. After a minute and a half, her attacking approach paid off, as she scored yuko with a low technique while holding both sleeves. Lobnik was then also more active in groundwork, and in the final minute she successfully turned her opponent onto her back and held her for 20 seconds to score ippon.

The semi-final paired her with an old acquaintance, Marie Branser. The two had last met in October last year in Lima, where the Slovenian had won their Grand Prix semi-final.

This time, however, the representative of Guinea started better and was slightly quicker with her attacks, which soon earned Metka her first penalty. After a false attack by Branser, the penalties were level again, but the Guinean remained just a little more dangerous in attack. After more than half the contest, Lobnik also received a penalty for a false attack, which forced her to adopt a more active approach. The Slovenian then took the initiative and pushed the bout into golden score. In extra time, Branser quickly received her second penalty for a false attack, but in the very next exchange the experienced 33-year-old used her experience well and threw Metka for the decisive yuko.

For the bronze medal, Lobnik faced Brazil’s Beatriz Freitas, whom she had met twice last year. The Slovenian had come out on top at the World Championships in Budapest, while the Brazilian had been victorious at the Grand Prix in Guadalajara.

Their third meeting once again went Metka’s way. With just under three minutes remaining, she gripped both of Freitas’s sleeves and threw the Brazilian onto her side with sode-tsuri-komi-goshi for waza-ari. She then held her opponent in a pin for another ten seconds, scored a second waza-ari, and secured both the victory and the bronze medal.

"Of course, I’m happy to have won a medal at my very first competition after the injury. At the same time, today also showed which small details we still need to improve, so I wouldn’t say that I’m continuing exactly where I left off in October. There are still quite a few things missing, which was also to be expected. Even before the competition, I knew I was not yet in top form. The main goal was to step onto the tatami again and regain the feeling for competition, and in the end it worked out with third place," Metka said immediately after receiving her medal, before adding about her return following the injury layoff: "Every injury, every absence, and every change in the training plan leaves certain consequences, no matter how long they last, and that was evident today as well."

Speaking about what comes next after a successful performance in Linz, Metka added: "This result certainly gives me confirmation that I can remain competitive even after the injury. My next competition will be the Grand Slam in Tbilisi, and everything is currently focused on that event. Of course, I still have high goals for this year — first the European Championships in April, and then the World Championships in the autumn."

This is Metka’s sixth medal on the World Judo Tour, her third bronze, and her second medal from the Grand Prix in Linz.