Raz Hershko Wins Abu Dhabi Silver as Itay Bibitko Takes European U23 Gold

Raz Hershko won silver at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam on Saturday, October 31, while fellow Israeli judoka Itay Bibitko won the European under-23 title in the men’s under-81 kg division. Hershko reached the final of the women’s over-78 kg competition before losing to Croatia’s Helena Vukovic after receiving three penalties. Hershko’s tournament took place at Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Arena. She entered in the quarterfinals and defeated Brazil’s Giovanna Santos on penalties. In the semifinal she overcame Italy’s Erica Simonetti, again on penalties, to secure her place in the gold-medal contest. Bibitko completed five victories to take his European title. In the final he defeated Norway’s Martin Briki Jenssen by ippon in less than a minute. Earlier, he beat Greece’s Iason Koutzigianidis with two waza-ari, then overcame Serbia’s Aleksa Bobalo by yuko and Serbia’s Vasilije Grujicic with three yuko. He secured his place in the final by beating Turkey’s Erman Gurgen by ippon in the semifinal. The two results added to recent Israeli judo achievements. Hershko, 28, was the silver medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympics and had won world championship bronze about three weeks before the Abu Dhabi event. Bibitko’s victory brought Israel its second gold at the under-23 competition, following Yehonatan Vexler’s title on Friday.