Teddy Riner is back in action and he did well in Hungary although it should be said that the field was not full of top players. None of his top rivals was competing.
He easily dispatched Joao Cesarino (BRA), first taking him down with a tewaza counter and then launching him with a sumi-gaeshi. This is a technique that seems to have become his tokui-waza in recent years.
Ushangi Kokauri (AZE) seemed too afraid of Riner and quickly accrued three shidos in under three minutes.
Riner threw Gela Zaalishvili (GEO) with kosoto-gake in the opening seconds of their semifinal match. Ippon given but was changed to waza-ari. In less than a minute later, Riner launched him with his favorite technique: sumi-gaeshi.
In recent years, Riner has relied a lot on sumi-gaeshi but in his final match, against Jelle Snippe (NED), he scored with a massive harai-makikomi for ippon. It was the kind of throw his fans wanted to see. It will be interesting to see if he is able to do this against more formidable opponents in the future.