Pool B was won by Tataroglu (TUR) after a an upside down set of wins and losses, totally ignoring ranking and expectation. The number 4 seed, Zaalishvili (GEO) lost to Omelchenko (UKR) who then lost to Siewe Djiekam (FRA) and then he lost to the Turk. It made no sense at all except good judo should always win and here it did. It was a high quality pool but there could only be one winner.
On the bottom half of the draw, the second and third seeds of the category, Gochiashvili (GEO) and Akiana Mongo (FRA) followed hierarchy more closely, both reaching the semi-final. Gochiashvili put on a great show in his first contest of the day, holding for waza-ari and then being held for waza-ari before finally securing a second pin for the win. It was a shame to see the dynamic Tunisian, Kouki, now out so early but it was a great contest.
In the first bronze medal contest, Gochiashvili, having lost out to the Frenchman in their semi-final, looked determined to step on to the podium. However, he didn’t have the chance to show his best work as the Uzbek facing him was disqualified for a head diving action.
The second bronze medal was contested by Borojevic (SRB) and an unexpected rival, the number one in the world, Ahmadov. The Azeri had lost against the power of Tataroglu, an incredibly strong judoka who at such a young age has impressive control over his stature. Ahmadov would make no mistake here and took an opportunity on the ground to seal his fate as a world medallist.
In the final Akiana Mongo gave Tataroglu quite a headache, out-gripping him, a real struggle to deal with. Eventually though the Turk solved the conundrum and threw twice with makikomi to become cadet world champion.
Final (+90 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (+90 kg)
Final Results (+90 kg)
