Azerbaijan with Gasimov and Orujov on top of Europe

World number one Elmar Gasimov (AZE) was Azerbaijan’s top performer on day three as Peter Seisenbacher saw more success for his leading judoka at the Masters in Guadalajara. Gasimov guaranteed top seed status for Rio 2016 by defeating former World Judo Masters bronze medallist Cyrille Maret (FRA) by ippon after three minutes.

Azerbaijan finished the Masters with two gold medals and two bronze medals, a fantastic return for the nation at the most crucial event before the Games and a telling sign of Seisenbacher being a master of timing and tactics.

In the first semi-final Gasimov beat the rugged Martin Pacek (SWE) on shido penalties 1:2 before Maret bested former world champion Lukas Krpalek (CZE) in the second semi-final by the same method with a margin of 0:1 on shidos.

The first bronze medal was won by Krpalek who defeated African Championships silver medallist Lyes Bouyacoub (ALG). The Czech fighter is nearing his best form at the right top as he opened the scoring with a waza-ari from a drop morote-seoi-nage before adding a second waza-ari to take the contest. The second bronze medal was won by Pacek who defeated former world silver medallist Jose Armenteros (CUB). The Swede screamed with delight as he confirmed a seeded position for the Olympics by rolling his Cuban opponent for two waza-ari as the hard-working Pacek continues to mystify opponents on the IJF World Judo Tour and now has the perfect start for Rio 2016.