Elsewhere in the draw, the home team finally had another chance to win a gold medal. The team had more medals than any other coming into day 3 but none were gold and so this was a big target for the final day of competition. Yerassyl Kazhybayev (KAZ) beat Ndao of Belgium and Georgia’s Inaneishvili in the early rounds before defeating Irakli Demetrashvili in the semi-final to set up a much applauded final between him and Hyoga Ota.
The final began with a huge cheer and dozens of Kazakh flags waving in the tribunes of the Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov Martial Arts Palace. Kazhybayev was being supported so sttrongly by his spectators but it wasn't enough and Hyoga Ota threw him with a perfect uchi-mata less then a minute and a half into the contest. Kazakhstan may not have won the gold but the judo fans in the arena clapped loudly for the great judo they saw and for their silver medallist.
In the first bronze medal contest Teresinski (POL) opposed Demetrashvili (GEO). Teresinski put together several classic combinations, using ko-uchi-gari to make space fro his seoi-otoshi but there was a lack of rotation and speed which left Demetrashvili with the spcae to attempt counters. They didn't work in normal time but they came close and Teresinski needed to heed the warning.
In golden score Demetrashvili earned a second shido for non-combativity as he wasn't initiating much but he continued to pose a risk. However, Grzegorz Teresinski stuck to his strategy of attacking first and eventually won the contest on penalties.
For the last bronze medal of the whole competition, Inaneishvili (GEO) and Margiev (IJF) took to the tatami and it only took the former 90 seconds to throw and hold for the win. Saba Inaneishvili would take his place on the podium.
Final (+100 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (+100 kg)
