The draw was thus clearing at the top. In Pool B, it was Peter Safrany (HUN) who made a strong impression, winning his first two contests, before finally losing to Umar Bozorov (UZB), having been leading with just a few seconds left; it's never over in judo until the final bell. In the semi-final between Mark Van Dijk and Umar Bozorov, it was the latter who took the advantage to advance into the final.
Pool C was also undecided, due to the last-minute absence of Theodoros Tselidis (GRE). There was therefore room for another Georgian judoka and it was Iorgi Jabniashvili (GEO) who seized his opportunity. Perhaps he could still bring home the gold medal after Maisuradze's elimination but that was without taking into account the sparkling form of Alexis Mathieu (FRA).
With metronomic consistency, the Frenchman racked up a string of victories, never really seeming to be in danger and knowing how to wait for the right moment to turn his back with big hip swings or unleash a powerful o-soto-gari. True to his tactics from the start of the day, Mathieu left Jabniashvili no chance and threw him twice to reach the final; a job well done!
The final opposed Umar Bozorov (UZB) and Alexis Mathieu (FRA) and it was a brilliant contest with Mathieu taking the lead with his o-soto-gari for a yuko. But then Bozorov took the advantage with a rapid reverse kata-guruma for waza-ari. Alexis Mathieu, who seemed to have better control, threw his opponent with a massive ippon-ko-uchi-gari, but while executing it, he clearly touched the leg of Bozorov and the ippon became a shido. A last attack from the French judoka was not enough and Bozorov won his first grand slam gold medal.
The first bronze medal contest saw Peter Zilka (SVK) et Giorgi Jabniashvili (GEO) facing. This was an intense contest, with Jabniashvili scoring a yuko with a seoi-otoshi and then having to play tactically to keep that small advantage until the end. He was penalised twice, as was Zilka, but that was not enough for the Slovak judoka to come back into the match. The bronze medal was for Georgia.
Rafael Macedo (BRA) and Mark Van Dijk (NED) had the chance to complete the podium. The contest was dynamic, no-one being awarded any penalties. After 23 seconds of golden score, Macedo executed a perfect ashi-guruma that put Van Dijk flat on his back for ippon. This bronze medal was for Rafael Macedo.
Final (-90 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-90 kg)
