Dashdavaa Amartuvshin finds form in Qingdao taking gold

Mongolian Dashdavaa Amartuvshin former Former world silver medallist bounced back from a below-par outing in Uzbekistan in his last competition to win gold at the Qingdao Grand Prix with victory over Casablanca African Open silver medallist Islam Yashuev (RUS).

Dashdavaa, who was fifth in Tashkent, led the final with a waza-ari from a pure te-waza attack and won the final with a tate-shiho-gatame hold for 15 seconds. The Mongolian star, who started the day as the world number seven, winked at the camera after winning his fifth Grand Prix gold medal.

In the first semi-final Dashdavaa bested 19-year-old Yang Yung Wei (TPE). The Mongolian produced a yuko from a ura-nage which was the only score of the content as Junior Asian Championships bronze medallist Yang was a worthy opponent but could not push his opponent. In the second semi-final Yashuev fought off teammate Sayan Khertek (RUS) who finished fifth at the Tyumen Grand Slam this year. Khertek made a tentative start as he was penalised twice for passivity and Yashuev asserted himself to hold down his countryman for 20 seconds and ippon with a mune-gatame in the first semi-final on day one.  

The first bronze medal was won by Khertek who was a convincing winner against 2013 World Championships competitor Tang Xiaolong (CHN). The Russian led by a waza-ari from a beautiful shoulder throw having threatened with his seoi-nage in the opening minute of the contest. Khertek added a yuko before pinning a mismatched Tang for 15 seconds with a yoko-shiho-gatame to win by wazari-awasette-ippon. The second bronze medal was won by teenager Yang who showed a wide repertoire of techniques against former Taipei Asian Open silver medallist Su Rilege (CHN). SU was penalised for passivity after he made a negative start while Yang came close to troubling the scoreboard with persistent ashi-waza attacks. Yang added a yuko with 33 seconds left before wrapping up the win in osaekomi to capture his first IJF World Judo Tour medal.