On the opening day of the Antalya Grand Slam, Chelsie Giles claimed a silver medal to add to the
gold medals she won at the Tel Aviv Grand Slam and Portugal Grand Prix earlier this year.
Giles lived up to her world number one ranking as she comfortably progressed through her opening
three contests to win her pool and progress to the semi-finals. Following an opening round bye, Giles
defeated Ariane Toro Soler (ESP) and Gultaj Mammadaliyeva (AZE) courtesy of her trademark ne-
waza before a quarter-final victory against Sofia Asvesta (CYP).
Giles started the semi-final in relentless fashion, launching attack after attack onto her opponent,
Sita Kadamboeva (UZB). Giles took her opponent to ground early in the contest and came close to
registering a score. In the following exchange, Kadamboeva was disqualified for a head dive,
progressing Giles to the final to face a familiar opponent, Olympic silver medallist Amandine Buchard
(FRA).
The final was another tense affair, just like the previous five encounters between the pair, and with
the contest looking certain to head to Golden Score, Buchard registered a waza-ari score moments
before the buzzer sounded to end the 4-minute contest.
The score was enough to see Buchard win the gold, meaning Giles had to settle for silver, but does
maintain her 100% record of making the final at her last 5 competitions.
