IBSA Judo Asian Championships, Day 2 / IJF.org

Day 2 in Astana was as explosive as expected, the heavyweights committing fully to their craft. Among both the men’s and women’s categories, a pleasing mix of tachi-waza and ne-waza techniques could be seen throughout the preliminary rounds, every athlete giving their best was the opportunity to be crowned IBSA Judo Asian champion.

In the final block the highlight was the J1M -95 kg category. All three medal contests brought excitement and power to the arena. The final began at quite a pace, Iran’s Gholami leading looking the more aggressive initially, but Mongolia’s competitor, Dashtseren didn’t let that trend last long and threw for a yuko in the second exchange. He continued to attack, no reduction in the desire to win with positive judo, stringing together great chains of ashi-waza techniques, all dangerous and close to scoring; Gholami was really under pressure.

Mousa Gholami understood the challenge very well and with 2 minutes to go threw with a great o-uchi-uchi-mata combination for a waza-ari, continuing on the floor with a pin that he could’t quite take the distance. The pressure was revered and Dashtseren had to find a whole new gear. He did just that, opening up and attacking with a wide range of techniques but with seconds left on the clock, the medal seemed to have found its new owner. Dashtseren went for one more big throw but was countered for ippon.

Mousa Gholami (IRI) taking the lead.

Abdulukov (UZB) and Adiev (UZB) came to the tatami in an all-Uzbek battle for bronze while Japanese and Indonesian competitors fought on the adjacent mat for the other bronze medal, Matsumoto and Pambudi delivering a dynamic performance right from the beginning. In both contests the first scores came from massive counters, Abdulukov scoring waza-ari on his mat while Pambudi managed to log an important ippon with his to be the first of the two contest winners declared. Despite Abdulukov’s lead, Adiev was far from beaten and only two exchanges after his near-defeat, he threw for ippon and turned the tables.

These were the perfect contests with which to end the individual competition of the IBSA Judo Asian Championships. Full results for day 2 can be found here:

J1W -60 kg:

Gold - Dheny Marsyelina (INA)

Silver - Arisaya Phajen (THA)

Bronze - Aiganym Zhanatbek (KAZ)

The J1W -60 kg podium.

J1M -95 kg:

Gold - Mousa Gholami (IRI)

Silver - Ganbat Dashtseren (MGL)

Bronze - Fajar Pambudi (INA)

Bronze - Targun Adiev (UZB)

The J1M -95 kg podium.

J1M +95 kg:

Gold - Ali Navaei (IRI)

Silver - Baglanbek Onalbek (KAZ)

Bronze - Yerlan Utepov (KAZ)

The J1M +95 kg podium.

J1W -70 kg:

Gold - Turuunaa Lkhaijav (MGL)

Silver - Minako Tsuchiya (JPN)

Bronze - Dinara Kujulova (KAZ)

The J1W -70 kg podium.

J1W +70 kg:

Gold - Roma Siska (INA)

J2M -95 kg:

Gold - Davurkhon Karomatov (UZB)

Silver - Akhmed Akhmedov (KAZ)

J2M +95 kg:

Gold - Zhurkamyrza Shukurbekov (KAZ)

Silver - Amirhossein Nimrouzi (IRI)

Bronze - Dharm Veer Verma (IND)

The J2M +95 kg podium.

J2W -70 kg:

Gold - Gulshan (IND)

The J2W -70 kg IBSA Judo Asian Champion.

J2W +70 kg:

Gold - Ayaka Mereke (KAZ)

The J2W +70 kg IBSA Judo Asian Champion.