Mkheidze, the reigning European champion, survived an early scare against home favourite Ahmad Yusifov (AZE) before despatching Kamoliddin Bakhtiyorov (UZB) and Temur Nozadze (GEO) to reach the final.
Down the line, second seed Dilshot Khalmatov (UKR) had a day to forget after three shidos resulted in a hansoku-make in the contest against Doston Ruziev (UZB). It wasn’t the best day for judoka in the top five, with fourth seed Turan Bayramov (AZE) and fifth seed Cedric Revol (FRA) bowing out early. Bayramov was caught by surprise with an osae-komi waza from Nozade and Revol had no answer to a golden score waza-ari from Vijay Kumar Yadav (IND).
Local hero Nazir Talibov bowed out to the defending champion and then Abdulaev took care of Jonathan Charon (CUB) with an armlock. He then eased past Doston Ruziev (UZB), executing a perfect uchi-mata to secure the ippon.
In the semi-finals, Balabay Aghayev (AZE) felt the heat with a ma-sutemi-waza to open the way for a hold down to finish. The final began differently with several small rule infringements, Abdulaev and Mkheidze receiving two penalties each. Hansoku-make in golden score secured the title for Abdulaev for the second consecutive year in the Azeri capital.
Bakhtiyorov (UZB), who did well to reach the bronze medal match through the repechage, could not convert the opportunity into a medal but the passionate home crowd weren’t upset by that as third seed Aghayev (AZE) secured a podium position with a te-waza.
The Uzbeks made up for the lost bronze when Ruziev (UZB) tackled Nozadze’s challenge, holding him down to win the other bronze. It may not be a consolation to Bakhtiyorov but it bodes well for the overall future of the lightweight men’s category in Uzbekistan.
Final (-60 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-60 kg)
