Judo Grand Slam day one: a golden start for Kazakhstan
The IJF World Judo Tour has landed back in Kazakhstan for the final Grand Slam event before this year’s World Championships and Olympic Games.
With some of the last qualification points on offer, Judo stars from around the world arrived in the city of Astana pursuing victory.
At -48kg, Galiya TYNBAYEVA delighted the home crowd, by making it into the final. Tynbayeva twice caught her opponent Giliazova with cleverly timed sacrifice techniques and won her first ever world judo tour gold on home soil in Astana.
Kazakhstan Sports & Physical Culture Committee Chairman, Yerbol MYRZABOSSYNOV awarded the medals.
“That was crazy. Because when I entered the arena, there were 1000 people screaming ‘Galiya Galiya’ I felt the pressure but then I said to myself, I must win, I will win," said TYNBAYEVA.
At -60kg Individual neutral athlete Ramazan ABDULAEV gave us a spectacular final! Performing a beautiful juji-gatame, Abdulaev made his opponent Yang submit and in doing so won his third grand slam gold.
He was awarded his medal by Harvest Group CEO, Almaz ALSENOV.
At -52kg. Gefen Primo began the day as number one seed and she lived up to it perfectly. In the final she faced Larissa Pimenta. After a tough contest Primo managed to catch Pimenta with a great ashi-waza, continuing to the ground to ensure the full ippon victory.
She was awarded her medal by IJF Secretary General, Lisa ALLAN.
The -66kg category saw Murad CHOPANOV claim gold in style! A huge throw in the first exchange of the match was followed straight into a hold down to seal the win!
The medals were awarded by IJF Director General, Vlad MARINESCU.
The -57kg category produced an all pan-american grand slam final, as close rivals Christa DEGUCHI and Rafaela SILVA fought for the top spot on the podium.
She was awarded the gold medal by Armen BAGDASAROV, Head Referee Director of the International Judo Federation.
“So this is my first time in Kazakastan, and it was nice to fight in a place which loves judo, and it was an honour to fight here and i'm happy to show the gold medal to them, thank you so much Kazakhstan," said DEGUCHI.
Another highlight for the home crowd came at -60kg, where Kazak judo legend and 2015 world champion Yeldos Smetov showed he is coming back to top form. He showed brilliant judo all day to claim bronze for the home nation.
