Mirali Sharipov grabs gold against teammate Boboyev

Mirali Sharipov (UZB) took the victory at the Grand Slam in Baku. The Asian Championships bronze medallist won the domestic bragging rights against teammate and Tashkent Grand Prix bronze medallist Giyosjon Boboyev (UZB) as he came out on top in their U73kg final. Boboyev (UZB) led by a waza-ari score after Sharipov tried to lift up his teammate but his compatriot countered with ashi-waza for the opening score.

That deficit saw Sharipovopen up and he turned the contest around as he won by ippon with an enormous pick up in a result which could define his race for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

In the first semi-final Dmytro Kanivets (UKR) – who beat favourite Orujov (AZE) with a juji-gatame in the quarter-finals - was beaten by Boboyev (UZB) on shido penalties 2:3 while in the second semi-final Sharipov (UZB) saw off Olympic silver medallist Ungvari Miklos (HUN) by a waza-ari score. 

The first bronze medal was won by European champion and world number one Rustam Orujov (AZE) who defeated Ungvari on shido penalties. Orujov responded to his crowd-silencing quarter-final defeat by besting Ungvari on shido penalties 3:4 as the chants of ‘Rustam, Rustam’ rang out around the venue. The Azerbaijan star was aiming for gold and himself had a muted reaction to winning bronze but the result will extend his lead at the helm of the -73kg category. The second bronze medal was won by Ulaanbaatar Grand Prix winner Sai Yinjirigala (CHN) – his first at this level – as he dominated Kanivets. Sai took the lead with a yuko from a modified kata-guruma before sinking in the shime-waza on the ground and the Ukrainian was slow to react and had no choice but to submit.