Albert Oguzov aces Antalya for first Grand Prix win for Russia

Russian judoka Albert Oguzov ruled the men’s lightest weight category at the Grand Prix of Antalya to force his way into the plans of Ezio Gamba for the remainder of Russia’s 2018 schedule.

Oguzov imposed himself from the outset in the final as 19-year-old Junior world champion Jaba Papinashvili (GEO) was on the back foot and came undone on the ground. Ne-waza is not regarded as the forte of the Georgian team and Oguzov delivered a ne-waza masterclass. The Russian seamlessly switched from shime-waza to a juji-gatame to secure the gold medal only 60 seconds into the final.

In the first semi-final 21-year-old Junior World Championships bronze medallist Jagvaraldorj Amarbold (MGL) lost out to Papinashvili by two waza-ari scores as a young Georgian team were omnipresent in the men’s categories. In the second semi-final Grand Prix debutant Yerzhan Yerenkaiypov (KAZ) was beaten by Zagreb Grand Prix bronze medallist Oguzov by a single waza-ari score in golden score.

The first bronze medal was won by Pan American Championships bronze medallist Adonis Diaz (USA) who caught Yerenkaiypov with a picturesque yoko-tomoe-nage for a waza-ari score. Diaz, 21, made sure that he is in the best position in his career ahead of the start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualification phase in May. The world number 27 from America will now jump up the rankings and will be full of confidence at April’s Pan American Championships in Costa Rica.              

The second bronze medal went to Jagvaraldorj after Junior Asian Championships winner Yang Yung Wei (TPE) was disqualified. Yang was ahead with a waza-ari score but was too eager to conclude the contest and received hansoku-make for a badly executed sode-tsurikomi-goshi which endangered the left arm of his opponent. Both judoka have pedigree in their home continent and could make the transition to success on the international stage in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic cycle.