Sanshiro Murao (JPN) was the first in action ready to put an end to the contest as soon as possible. He rapidly scored a first waza-ari and gave the impression of being in control but who can really be in control with the Georgian magician? The next two moves were his and each was awarded waza-ari. The trick is that there is always an arm, a leg or a foot that stays behind to hook his opponent. In pure Bekauri style, the champion knelt down. Yes, he did it again, in style, that is simply impressive. Bravo magician!
We will remember that it was the third time the two men have met and every single time it was one waza-ari for Murao, but in the end there were always two waza-ari for Bekauri. We are right to call him a magician!
Lasha Bekauri declared, “I believed, I really had faith that this can happen. It was my big dream and I did everything for this one, really everything.”
Bronze Medal Contests
Everyday, the host country won at least one medal. Would that be the case again today with Maxime-Gael Ngayap Hambou (FRA)? He faced Rafael Macedo (BRA) in the first bronze medal contest. The first shido for each judoka came quickly as they were not attacking, even if Ngayap Hambou was more active. A minute later a second penalty for each judoka was given for avoiding gripping. No more mistakes allowed and that was actually going to make the difference.
The intensity was at its peak when during a sequence on the floor, Rafael Macedo who was trying to pin his opponent, while applying a shime-waza technique, caught Maxime-Gael Ngayap Hambou’s head alone, which is not allowed. The third penalty was for Macedo and the bronze medal for Maxime-Gael Ngayap Hambou and for France. This is the first Olympic medal for the 23 year-old French judoka and already it is medal number 7 for France.
In the second bronze medal contest, Theodoros Tselidis (GRE) faced Tristani Mosakhlishvili (ESP). After winning the Tashkent Grand Slam in March, Tselidis explained that his preferred technique (tokui-waza), a special form of seoi-otoshi, had been inspired by Sagi Muki. Thus everyone knows it, but despite that, Mosakhlishvili could not avoid the very first attack from Tselidis that scored a waza-ari. The rest of the contest was more a tactical battle that was controlled perfectly by the Greek judoka to win his first Olympic medal.
Semi-finals
The voltage of the first semi-final between Maxime-Gael Ngayap Hambou (FRA) and Sanshiro Murao (JPN) was very high. We can't say that the French judoka didn't try. He obviously had a plan, using cross grips to get closer to his opponent and throw him, but Murao was too strong today, throwing twice to reach the final. Against who? The second semi-final told us.
With his unorthodox judo and way of taking his kumi-kata, Bekauri is difficult to manoeuvre, but Tristani Mosakhlishvili knows the style and was ready for it. Halfway through the contests, there were already two shido apiece, leaving no more space for mistakes but a lot of space for acrobatic attacks, mainly from the Georgian judoka. Twice he earned a waza-ari but the video twice cancelled the score and so it was time for golden score. Bekauri kept attacking, over and over again, while Mosakhlishvili was looking for the counterattack that would end the contest, but on the way he was logically penalised a third time for passivity. Bekauri reached his second Olympic final in a row.
Repechage
The match between Juyeop Han (KOR) and Rafael Macedo (BRA) was announced, a balanced one, but Macedo demonstrated that he wanted it more and scored twice to reach the bronze medal match, while the second repechage contest was won by Theodoros Tselidis (GRE) after Aram Grigorian (UAE) was penalised three times.
