Very quickly, after a first bye, he confirmed his good intentions by scoring ippon against Kwok Wing Lee (HKG) with a distant o-soto-gari. In the next round he added two waza-ari against Victor Sterpu (MDA) to reach the quarter-finals. Unfortunately for the Kazakh, he was then pitted against the 2018 world silver medallist, Sotaro Fujiwara (JPN). Although the later was not seeded, he has proven in the past that he can be a top judoka and it was in less than three minutes that he ruined the hopes of Zhubanazar and the public.
The first waza-ari was scored with a seoi-otoshi followed by a change of direction for a backward movement and it was with an opportunist’s sasae that Fujiwara concluded the contest.
Everything seemed to be good for the Japanese but that was without taking into account Sharofiddin Boltaboev, who was unhappy in Dushanbe a week ago and who clearly learned from his Tajik disappointment. It was on the gong that Boltaboev scored a liberating waza-ari to enter the final.
It was also in Dushanbe last week that we talked about Timo Cavelius, who unfortunately for him finished just off the podium. The weeks follow one another but are not entirely the same. This time, for Cavelius things went perfectly since he joined Boltaboev after an impeccable preliminary course.
In the final, Cavelius gave the impression that he had given everything during the preliminary rounds. Against someone of the calibre of Boltaboev, this makes things difficult. The Uzbek judoka controlled the contest and eventually threw with a massive ura-nage for waza-ari, sealing a strong victory that will give him some self-confidence for the upcoming events. After his rapid defeat in Tajikistan, that is more than welcome.
Abylaikhan Zhubanazar (KAZ) still had the chance to save his tournament by facing Aurelien Bonferroni (SUI) in the first contest for a bronze medal, and Zhubanazar saved it very well by scoring ippon with a counter-attack halfway through the first minute of the contest. The public could eventually enjoy this result and cheer for their champion.
In the second bronze medal contest, it was a veteran of the international circuit who was found in a good position to win a medal, Attila Ungvari (HUN) was opposed by Sotaro Fujiwara (JPN). There was no real suspense as Ungvari was penalised rapidly three times, the last for grabbing under the belt. The bronze medal was for Sotaro Fujiwara.
Final (-81 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-81 kg)
