Ryuga Tanaka (JPN) had the measure of 2024 junior world champion Keito Kihara (JPN) but it took some time to present the evidence of that. They went into golden score virtually unscathed but in the opening exchange of extra time, tanaka took hold of both sleeves and threw Kihara with a huge sode-tsuri-komi-goshi. The gold was his!
In the first bronze medal contest Uranbayar Odgerel (MGL) showed grit and commitment, never succumbing to the pressure of fighting against the Japanese on their home soil, in fact he seemed to relish the challenge. Perhaps Tanaka (JPN) had the edge initially but without a score on the board anything could happen and with half a minute to go, Odgerel applied a new technique to the mix and threw Tanaka for a waza-ari with a very fast koshi-guruma. It was the winning movement and a jubilant Odgerel left the tatami to prepare for his step on to the podium.
Lasha Shavdatuashvili (GEO) did not fancy a long, drawn out contest against Shusuke Uchimura (JPN) for a place on the podium. He came out hard, attempting to throw with a seoi-otoshi straight away, but it was avoided and so his plan to score early looked under threat.
As the time moved forward, despite Shavdatuashvili’s awkward yumi-kata, Uchimura began to gain confidence and with 1:15 left on the clock, he threw with ko-uchi-gake. It was clean, a full landing on the back and so ippon was called. Uchimura had won his home event medal and Lasha had to settle for 5th place.
Final (-73 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-73 kg)
Final Results (-73 kg)
