It was a busy day in Poland as dozens of elite grapplers from all across the world met in the 2021 ADCC European, Middle-Eastern, & African trials to determine who would get the results they need to be the first entrants into the eventual world championships event in 2022. The organization held five men’s brackets with the winner of each one earning a golden ticket to the world championships, and two women’s brackets that unfortunately did not have a qualification space on the line. In the end it was a fantastic day for both the UK and Finland as both countries managed to see two of their athletes qualify alongside Canadian Oliver Taza.
As soon as the full competitor list was released it was obvious that the trials were going to be a long day of elite grappling and that the first qualifiers for ADCC 2022 would likely present tough challenges in their respective divisions. The standout performance came from the UK in the 88kg division where Eoghan O’Flanagan didn’t need the judges at all as he finished every one of his five opponents with a heelhook. Alongside him, Polaris triple champion Ashley Williams put on an amazing show in the 66kg division as he submitted his first four opponents with a variety of submissions before winning the final against Gairbeg Ibragimov by the thinnest of margins.
In between them at the ADCC European trials was the 77kg division where the results saw Oliver Taza climb atop the mountain after a series of incredibly close matches with Mateusz Szczecinski and Magomed Dzharbaev. Finland dominated the heavier divisions as Perttu Tepponen and Heiki Jussila shut out the under and over 99kg divisions respectively, while Poland’s own Magdalena Loska won in the heaviest female division. The 60kg female division was won by South-African Peyton Letcher who entered the tournament as a relative unknown but rose to the top after several flawless performances in the smallest division of the day.
Men’s ADCC European, Middle-Eastern & African Trials 2021 Qualifiers
-66kg Ashley Williams
-77kg Oliver Taza
-88kg Eoghan O’Flanagan
-99kg Perttu Tepponen
+99kg Heikki Jussila
Women’s Results
-60kg Peyton Letcher
+60kg Magdalena Loska
The full ADCC European, Middle-Eastern and African Trials replay will be available to watch on FloGrappling, click here to subscribe and watch.
