Serbian Aleksandar Kukolj wins back-to-back Grand Slam gold

Serbian judoka Aleksandar Kukolj won his second Grand Slam on the trot as in Tokyo he repeated his victory over Axel Clerget of France from the final in U.A.E.

The rematch of the Abu Dhabi U90kg gold medal contest ended with the same outcome as Kukolj scored a waza-ari with a yoko-otoshi and then won it in style by ippon with a tai-otoshi with 49 seconds remaining. Kukolj will now chase continental and world honours next year while for Clerget, who crucially outperformed teammate Alexandre Iddir, has the chance to win his first Grand Slam gold in the next IJF event at the Paris Grand Slam in February. 

In the first semi-final top seed Kukolj  bested Paris Grand Slam winner Nishiyama Daiki by a yuko – the only score of the contest - to move into the gold medal contest. In the second semi-final Abu Dhabi Grand Slam silver medallist Axel Clerget defeated Tyumen Grand Slam bronze medallist Nagasawa Kenta (JPN) as he anticipated the uchi-mata of the Japanese and countered for waza-ari in golden score. The contest was scoreless at the end of regulation time as both judoka went toe-to-toe in an epic battle which the Frenchman won after three minutes of golden sore and could not hold back his joy as he punched the air and pointed to his teammates in the stands. 

The first bronze medal was awarded to Nagasawa who saw off 24-year-old IJF World Judo Tour newcomer Kugimaru Taichi (JPN). Nagasawa won a lively contest, which was more than the scoreboard suggested, with a margin of 2:3 on shido penalties to capture a first Grand Slam medal.

The second bronze medal went to world number 12 Nishiyama who beat World Judo Masters silver medallist Khusen Khalmurzaev (RUS). The Russian judoka, whose twin brother Khasan Khalmurzaev (RUS) is the Rio 2016 Olympic champion at -81kg, failed to make an impression as he received is fourth shido for passivity. Nishiyama is prolific on the Grand Slam stage as this win handed him his 10th Grand Slam medal.