-81kg
Boltaboev (UZB) didn’t stick to the plan! He was supposed to reach the final and engage in a blockbuster, world class battle against the local hero, Albayrak (TUR). Boltaboev made a big mistake in the quarter final and was beaten by Rizoev of Tajikistan, who, by the way, lost his semi-final but won the bronze comfortably. Boltaboev then won in the repechage against Moutii (MAR) and walked into a bronze medal contest against Tckaev (AZE). One could say his route to the final should have been easier than than one he took but not one to back down, he forged forward anyway, though clearly not on his usual form.
The deciding moment arrived as Tckaev came in very fast, straight to the floor and applied an armlock, all in a split second. Ippon was awarded at first but with the review process in play it was seen that there had been no attempt to throw and the score was rectified; hansoku-make for Tckaev and a bronze medal for Boltaboev. It must have been a relief to win that medal as he put himself under pressure all day.
The final borrowed it’s energy cues from that bronze medal match and Turkiye’s world medallist Albayrak stepped forward, spurred on by the crowd, to face Tatalashvili (UAE), already a grand slam medallist himself.
Tatalashvili threw for waza-ari. Albayrak immediately returned the favour and also went into the hold down. Tatalashvili escaped at 8 seconds, avoiding the waza-ari-awasete-ippon and then attempted to throw again; no score. Albayrak has excellent ne-waza and again turned Tatalashvili and held him but again at 8 seconds he escaped. Houdini would have been proud! Eventually the home favourite threw for a second time and took the gold but it was a thrilling contest full of respect and excellence.
-70kg
Matniyazova (UZB) set the bar high in Konya, with massive throws, producing landings that reverberated around the arena. The final was a little different, her Tunisian opponent resisting all those explosive entries, except one. A huge uchi-mata caught her off guard but only for waza-ari. It was another Uzbek gold to add to the 4 earned on day one.
The first bronze was contested by Hasanli (AZE) and Akdeniz (TUR) and just like the previous final the advantage rocked back and forth and back again: waza-ari, waza-ari, almost waza-ari and eventually a third. The home crowd were happy with another bronze to add to their haul.
Bronze number two was valiantly fought for with a single waza-ari separating Nazarova (UZB) and Barbat (IRI), the medal being painted with Uzbek colours.
-90kg
Grigorian (UAE) had a great morning, beating the number one seed, Bobonov (UZB) on his way to the semi-final, where he was dealt with efficiently by Turkiye’s Mihael Zgank, who then went on to overcome quite a powerful adversary to take the gold. Ustopiriyon’s (TJK) silver was a great reward for an excellent day of positive judo.
Grigorian came back to win the bronze, the other going to Bobonov. The whole category brought the right emphasis to the tatami with big efforts to throw and to come forward throughout, a great example for all tuned in online.
-78kg
It was an all-African battle for the first bronze. Cameroon’s Arrey Sophina and Algeria’s Ouallal left nothing to chance, both pushing to dominate. Eventually the Algerian took a strong grip over the top and as Arrey Sophina reacted to it, Ouallal took her moment to attack with a big ashi-guruma that could only have been scored ippon. Yatim (MAR) offered Yuldoshova (UZB) a shock defeat, taking the other bronze back to Africa.
The final was won very fast indeed by Yilmaz of Turkiye. She armlocked Narmukhamedova (KGZ) in the second exchange and was thrilled to win gold for the host nation.
-100kg
The seeding was well respected on day two in Konya, at least in this weight category, with the four top seeds all appearing in medal matches and the top two making it to the final.
Sismanlar upset the balance, but just a little bit, by winning his bronze medal match against Bozbayev (KAZ). Both were among the seeds. The other bronze went to Abubakri, who led his contest against Khan (PAK) from the beginning, becoming the only unseeded judoka to reach this podium.
Olympic silver medallist Elmar Gasimov (AZE) is a veteran of world judo, in every sense but that experience was put to the test in the final against 22 year old Turoboyev (UZB).
The Uzbek seemed to have no fear, no shortage of persistence and it proved to be the right combination today as he threw Gasimov twice to take the gold medal.
+78kg
The Senegalese representative came to Konya with confidence and an abundance of tactical awareness. She won her bronze medal inside a minute, forcing penalties while also attempting to throw. The Yemeni competitor had to settle for 5th place.
The second bronze was won by Mzougui (TUN) with a clear throw and transition to the hold to claim two waza-ari scores and her place on the rostrum. This put two African judoka on the podium and with Algeria in this final, still to come, the AJU could already be proud of their athletes, taking 3 out 4 medals at +78kg in Turkiye.
The final between Turkiye’s seasoned World Judo Tour judoka, double world medallist Kayra Sayit and Algeria’s African champion Asselah, could have produced some fireworks but Sayit didn’t entertain that idea for even a moment, throwing Asselah cleanly.
+100kg
Senegal left it very late in the day to make it into the medal tally but they really made their mark at the end of day two with a medal in each of the heavyweight categories. Ndiaye had a great day and capped it by winning a bronze medal, beating Yusifov (AZE) who was not best pleased. The second bronze went to Bahrain, Chotchaev doubling the nation’s overall take.
The final between Yusupov (UZB), the number 1 seed, and United Arab Emirates’ Magomedomarov was heading in Uzbekistan’s direction before a twist in the playbook saw the UAE athlete hold Yusupov to cap a great day for his country. That’s 3 medals for UAE on day 2 in Konya and the last one was a gold!
At the end of a fantastic two days of competition in the individual tournament, Uzbekistan held their place at the top of the results sheet, with 6 gold medals but Turkiye gave them a run for their money on day two, falling only one gold short.
The day’s special mention goes to the three countries which didn’t win medals at all on day one but hit the tatami running on day two and won more than one medal: Senegal, Tajikistan and United Arab Emirates. The work from UAE sprung them from nowhere to 5th on the overall medal table, quite a feat!
Tomorrow Konya will be the site for all the intensity that team tournaments bring, beginning at 11am local time. There are 12 men’s teams and 9 women’s teams and it promises to be a spectacular day.
