Henk Grol, judo, takes silver at EC in Tbilisi

27 April 2009 - Judoka Henk Grol took the silver medal at the European Championships in the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi. He proved unable to defend the European title in the class up to 100 kilograms that he won last year in Lisbon.

On his way to the final, Henk Grol experienced few difficulties with his opponents. He beat Zilinskas from Lithuania with an ippon and then won from the Hungarian Hadfi. In the semi-final, Henk Grol faced Brata from Rumania. Here too he scored an ippon.

In the final, the Russian Tagir Khaiboelajev was his opponent. After five minutes without scoring, the bout was extended by a further three minutes. In extra time, Tagir Khaibulaev from Russia scored a yuko. As a result, Henk Grol had to be satisfied with a silver medal.

Henk Grol will now be focusing on the World Championships to be held in Rotterdam at the end of August.