Marhinde Verkerk boosted her prospects of being the Dutch under 78kg competitor at Rio 2016 by winning at the Tbilisi Grand Prix ©IJF

Marhinde Verkerk earned gold over her team-mate Guusje Steenhuis in the women’s under 78 kilogram division at the International Judo Federation (IJF) Tbilisi Grand Prix in what could prove a key moment in their hopes of competing at Rio 2016.

With only one Olympic place on offer in the division for the Dutch duo, the final saw both judokas seeking to stake their claim, leading to a nerve-wracking affair at the New Sports Palace.

Verkerk, the 2009 world champion, would ultimately leave the Georgian capital as the happier athlete after she triumphed on shido penalties, with the contest having ended scoreless.

Brazil’s Mayra Aguiar, who lost to Verkerk in the semi-finals, claimed a bronze medal in the same manner with her Portuguese opponent Yahima Ramirez being penalised four times by the judges for inactivity in their bout.

The final podium place was secured by Britain’s Natalie Powell, after she overcame France’s Madeleine Malonga with a yuko to earn the 14th Grand Prix medal of her career.

The Netherlands would finish the Grand Prix top of the overall medals table with three golds and two silvers, following Noël van 't End claiming their second title of the final day.

He proved dominant during his under 90kg bout with Sweden’s Marcus Nyman, the Dusseldorf Grand Prix winner, scoring through a yuko and waza-ari to claim the contest convincingly.

Portugal’s Celio Dias achieved two waza-aris to beat Sweden’s Joakim Dvarby to the first bronze, while the second was claimed by Spain’s Georgian-born judoka Nikoloz Sherazadishvili after he was awarded a yuko and waza-ari against Russia’s Magomed Magomedov.

Noël van 't End helped The Netherlands finish top of the medals table by earning their third gold
Noël van 't End helped The Netherlands finish top of the medals table by earning their third gold ©IJF

Although they were denied the under 90kg title, Sweden were not made to wait long for success after Martin Pacek cruised to victory in the under 100kg division.

The Tyumen Grand Slam winner triumphed in three straight contests with ippons to reach the final, where he continued that fine record by striking decisively in the final 30 seconds to be awarded the contest against Iran’s Javad Mahjoub.

Georgia’s Beka Gviniashvili delighted the home crowd by achieving a match winning ippon against Uzbekistan’s Soyib Kurbonov in the first bronze medal bout.

Jorge Fonseca then outclassed Italy’s Domenico Di Guida to secure the final podium spot, with the Portuguese judoka scoring with a waza-ari and yuko.

The final men’s event of the day saw Israel’s Or Sasson clinch his maiden Grand Prix title with a yuko win over The Netherlands’ Roy Meyer.

Brazil’s Rafael Silva won bronze due to Russia’s Aslan Kambiev receiving four shido penalties, while another Russian Andrey Volkov was unable to compete through injury, giving Poland’s Maciej Sarnacki the final podium spot.

The women’s over 78kg division ended in the same manner with Turkey’s Kayra Sayit claiming gold after Brazil’s Maria Suelen Altheman was unable to take part in the final.

Belarus’ Maryna Slutskaya recorded a quick ippon victory over Ukraine’s Svitlana Iaromka to win bronze, while China’s Sisi Ma also reached the podium after France’s Emilie Andeol was penalised four times by the judges.

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