Clever Axel Clerget praises Iddir and snatches gold in Almaty

French Axel Clerget won U90kg gold at the Grand Prix of Almaty with a win against Chinese Asian Championships bronze medallist Cheng Xunzhao in the final. Cheng came to Almaty holding 30th position on the Olympic qualification list and the one-time IJF Grand Prix winner (Qingdao 2012) fell behind to a waza-ari from a harai-makikomi and Clerget.

Clerget who respectfully praised his teammate and Rio 2016 front-runner Alexandre Iddir in the post-event television interview, literally wrapped up his opponent and the gold medal with a hold down for 15 seconds. Iddir is up at the lofty heights of eighth in the Olympic qualification zone and it remains to be seen what France has up their sleeves for the World Judo Masters.

In the first semi-final Cheng defeated Samsun Grand Prix silver medallist Mammadali Mehdiyev (AZE) with a thunderous osoto-gari for ippon which sparked huge celebrations as his coach jumped out of the chair and Cheng fell down to his knees as he can expect to compete for his country in Rio with greater certainty. In the second semi-final Clerget past home fighter Dauletkhan Zhakypov (KAZ) by ippon after leading by a waza-ari as the Frenchman did everything in his powers to improve his ranking and with it his growing candidacy for Rio.

When asked about his feelings on Olympic selection Clerget said, “The French Federation have not made an official announcement as yet, but I think everyone knows that at -90kg it will be Alexandre IDIR. He is one of the best fighters in the world and has a good chance for a medal in Rio. For myself I just try to get the best results I can, stay in the best possible condition and, if something should happen that I am needed, then I will be ready.”

The first bronze medal was awarded to Tashkent Grand Prix bronze medallist Mihael Zgank (SLO) who kept alive his Olympic ambitions by defeating home judoka Zhakypov on shido penalties. Zgank was down in 31st place on Olympic qualification list at the start of the day and had to win a medal to push himself towards the top 22 and a potential invite to the World Judo Masters if members of the top 16 are unable to take their place in Guadalajara. A single shido against the Kazakh fighter was the only time the referee was called into action and Slovenian Zgank had achieved his goal. The second bronze medal went to Mehdiyev as he came from behind to see off African Championships winner Abderrahmane Benamadi (ALG). Azeri Mehdiyev was rolled partially over for the lowest score but responded with a textbook left-sided ouchi-gari for the maximum score and bronze.