Could it be Jack Yonezuka (USA), whose progress we've been following regularly for the past two seasons? No, as the American conceded a defeat to Leonardo Valeriani (ITA), who was himself defeated by Daniel Szegedi (HUN). Thus the semi-final opposed Armen Agaian and Daniel Szegedi and it was Armen Agaian who ran into the final after a beautiful ippon.
In the second half of the draw, things seemed a little clearer, as the two favourites, Joan-Benjamin Gaba (FRA) and Lasha Shavdatuashvili (GEO), advanced to the semi-finals. Both judoka are Olympic heroes! The former captured the passion and admiration of a nation when he turned the tide of the Olympic mixed team final in favour of France over Japan, following his individual final. The latter is a world judo legend, a three-time Olympic medallist with all three medal colours, and he’s a world champion.
When two champions of that dimension step on the tatami, you can expect something exceptional and it was amazingly exceptional. It was only the semi-final but it could have been the final. At least it was in terms of atmosphere and noise level in the venue. The battle was epic, they both gave it all, forgetting that there was still a contest after that. With two shido apiece deep into golden score, the victory was wavering from Shavdatuashvili to Gaba and from Gaba to Shavdatuashvili. Eventually, the Georgian found an extra bit of energy that was needed to execute a perfect sasae-tsuri-komi-ashi coming from nowhere. Ippon! What a contest!
The final therefore opposed Armen Agaian (IJF) and the national hero Lasha Shavdatuashvili (GEO). What else can we say about the amazing champion, a warrior Shavdatuashvili is. After his crazy semi-final, he entered the final fresh like nothing happened before and fully controlled the contest tactically. In the golden score period, he applied an okuri-ashi-harai to score and win! What a champion!
The first bronze medal contest opposed Leonardo Valeriani (ITA) and Joan-Benjamin Gaba (FRA). Maybe Gaba was a little exhausted after his incredible semi-final. He was never in a position to take control of the contest and had to bow out. Valeriani wins the bronze medal.
Samuel Gassner (AUT) qualified against Daniel Szegedi (HUN) for the second bronze medal contest. Gassner produced a fantastic effort to score ippon with a massive counter-attack to win the bronze medal.
Final (-73 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-73 kg)
