Naohisa Takato back at highest platform with Masters victory

What an amazing final it was U60kg of the IJF Masters in Rabat. The two finallists Orkhan Safarov of Azerbaijan and Naohisa Takato of Japan offered the spectators a great judo show. Naohisa Takato prolonged his title of 2013 with great judo.

The bronze medallist of the 2013 World Championships in Rio, Orkhan Safarov (AZE) had a perfect competition day until the final where he faced 2013 World Champion, Naohisa Takato (JPN), who demonstrated incredible judo throughout the preliminary rounds. Between the two finalists there was no observation round, each attack from both sides being very strong. The final score does not really reflect the engagement of the two champions, who delivered a terrific fight. But throughout the final, penalties were distributed, two to Safarov and only one to Takato, the Japanese winning the World Masters title. 

The first bronze medal fight opposed the two Uzbek athletes, Diyorbek Urozboev and Sharafuddin Lutfillaev. Penalised two times Lutfillaev, then scored a first yuko, followed by a first waza-ari and concluded a good series with a superb sode-tsuri-komi-goshi for a second waza-ari-wasate-ippon.

In the second bronze medal fight Amiran Papinashvili was opposed to the world number one Ganbat Boldbaatar (MGL). During the first part of the fight only penalties were distributed on both sides, two to Papinashvili and one to Ganbat, when the Georgian launched a spectacular reverse sode-tsuri-komi-goshi for yuko. Totally exhausted it looked like ‘mission impossible’ for Papinashvili to secure the score. Penalised two more times, he still was ahead with his yuko, but Ganbat launched a sutemi-waza for waza-ari, immediately followed with an immobilisation for ippon.