Farmonov takes judo gold in all Uzbekistan final in Tashkent

Mirzahid Farmonov of host nation Uzbekistan had the measure of his younger teammate and heir apparent in Baku Grand Slam silver medallist Giyosjon Boboev to win the U73kg title on Friday. Farmonov, 28 and Boboev, 23, who warmed up together this morning, matched each other for five minutes and could not be separated.

The Uzbekistan Asian Games bronze medallist faithful relished seeing two of their judoka in the final and were always going to appreciate and applaud both men regardless of the outcome. After 44 seconds of golden score, Farmonov scored a waza-ari from an uchi-mata sukashi as Uzbekistan made it a one-two at -73kg.

In the first semi-final Boboev profited from a rookie mistake by Junior European Championships winner Hidayat Heydarov (AZE). The talented 19-year-old was disqualified for a clear hansoku-make for a waki-gatame and reluctantly accepted the decision. In the second semi-final former Tyumen Grand Slam winner Uali Kurzhev (RUS) was pitted against Farmonov and the two produced a first-class contest. After trading yuko scores in five minutes of regulation time, there was not a winner so the contest moved into golden score. After 35 seconds the Russian fighter was penalised for passivity to book an all-Uzbek -73kg final.

The first bronze medal was won by Kurzhev who dramatically came from behind to defeat Almaty Grand Prix bronze medallist Yeldos Zhumakanov (KAZ). The Russian was clearly hampered by a right wrist injury and was fighting to contain his opponent. Zhumakanov took the lead with a yuko but got caught with 25 seconds remaining as his tactics were off in the closing minute. Kurzhev still pressed forward and earned a waza-ari from a ko-soto-gake which decided the contest after five minutes. The gutsy Russian judoka then stopped to sign some autographs for young fans before leaving the field of play. The second bronze medal went to 19-year-old Junior European Cup bronze medallist Muso Sobirov (UZB) as Heydarov was disqualified in his previous contest.