Two other top seeds, Ivanov (BUL) and Olympic medallist Tselidis (GRE), also fell before the semi-finals, Ivanov right at the beginning of the day. The Greek fighter managed to reach the quarter-final but there he lost to Igolnikov (IJF), who arrived in Astana in great form. Igolnikov then won his place in the final too, forcing Fronckowiak (BRA) into a bronze medal fight-off later in the day.
In the first bronze medal contest of the afternoon session, Adam Kopecky (CZE) fought Marcelo Fronckowiak (BRA) and it was Kopecky who led the action and dictated the pace. He threatened with kata-guruma and tomoe-nage attacks and was able to chain them together at speed. Fronckowiak should have heeded the warning but didn't and was thrown for a waza-ari with the kata-guruma with just 44 seconds to go. That was all Kopecky needed to secure his second bronze medal in a row on the World Judo Tour.
In the second bronze medal contest Theodoros Tselidis (GRE) was due to face Yahor Varapayeu (IJF) but unfortunately the latter was unable to compete. Tselidis leaves Astana with a bronze medal and yet more ranking points to further boost his place on the WRL.
Malkin and Igolnikov fought hard for the gold medal but Igolnikov, 6 times a grand slam winner, looked the stronger of the two from the outset and proved it with a counter for a yuko inside the first minute.
Malkin certainly attacked but Igolnikov was ready for each one and never looked perturbed at all. With 11 seconds left on the clock, he countered yet again and scored a waza-ari which he then added to by holding Malkin down for the required time to increase his score to ippon.
Final (-90 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-90 kg)
