Yuhei Oino (JPN) and Sotaro Fujiwara (JPN) contested another all-Japanese final. They cancelled each other out for the first few minutes and accumulated two penalties each but a 3-attack combination gave Oino the score needed to win in extra time.
For a bronze medal, current world champion Timur Arbuzov was not willing to allow Kaito Amano (JPN) to express himself. In the first exchange he threw with a massive seoi-otoshi, scoring waza-ari. He moved straight into usher-kesa-gatame but the momentum from the throw was still in play and Amano used it to escape.
The rest of the time ticked down without much drama and Timur Arbuzov could at least climb on to the podium, even if not to the position in his original plan.
Zaur Dvalashvili (GEO) had his work cut out as Yoshito Hojo (JPN) is a judoka who can throw from absolutely anywhere. He can grapple at close quarters, can play with the feet at a distance and can anticipate every move ahead of time. Hojo was in fact uncatchable! He threw twice, for a waza-ari and a yuko, no ippon this time, but it was clear that only he could take that medal; he had his name etched into it well in advance.
Final (-81 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-81 kg)
Final Results (-81 kg)
