France earned six golds at the African Judo Open ©African Judo Union

Hosts Tunisia were able to celebrate double gold medal success at the African Judo Open but France emerged as the most dominant nation in Tunis.

Three-time African women’s under 52 kilogram champion Hela Ayari was one of the home crowd’s hopes for gold, with the event offering her the opportunity to gain key Olympic qualification points as she targets Rio 2016.

Ayari proved able to live up to expectations as she reached the division’s gold medal match, where she was able to defeat France’s Pénélope Bonna to seal the title.

France’s Lucile Duport and Poland’s Agata Perenc claimed victories in their respective bronze medal bouts to complete the podium places.

A second Tunisian gold was clinched in the women’s over 78kg event, with Nihel Cheikh Rouhou defeating France’s Lucie Louette in the final, while Cameroon’s Nadine Wetie Diodjo and France’s Rebecca Ramanich took bronze.

Despite their judokas defeating French opponents in two finals, Tunisia found themselves on the receiving end in the women’s under 70kg event as Houda Miled fell to defeat to France’s Marie Eve Gahie.

Gahie’s compatriot, Marielle Pruvost, delivered a second gold medal for the French team in the women’s competitions as the 29-year-old managed to hold off the challenge of Croatia’s Marijana Miskovic.

Their domination of the competition was clearest in the men’s field as their judokas claimed four of the seven titles which were on offer.

Marielle Pruvost was one of two Frenchwomen to top the podium
Marielle Pruvost was one of two French women to top the podium ©Facebook/African Judo Union

The French team were assured of gold in the under 66kg event when Alexandre Mariac and Kilian Le Blouch both reached the final, with the latter eventually emerging as the victor.

Successes for Dimitri Gomes Tavares and Nicolas Brisson in the under 81kg and 90kg competitions were followed by victory for Jean-Sébastien Bonvoisin in the over 100kg event, to see the French squad leave Tunis with six golds.

Vugar Shirinli was able to prevent that tally from reaching seven, as the Azeri competitor defeated Cedric Revol in the under 60kg event.

Meanwhile, Slovenia’s Martin Hojak overcame Spain’s Javier Ramírez in the under 73kg final, with the last men’s gold claimed by Georgia’s Guram Tushishvili after he beat Estonia’s Grigori Minaskin in the under 100kg.

The remaining women’s events saw medals shared across a variety of nations, with Spain’s Cinta Garcia Mesa claiming the under 48kg title by beating Slovenia’s Kristina Vrsic in the final.

Kosovo’s Nora Gjakova reached the top of the under 57kg podium by defeating Italy’s Martina Lo Giudice, while Portugal’s Yahima Ramirez captured the under 78kg title after triumphing against France’s Madeleine Malonga.