Takeshi Ojitani wins all-Japanese duel with Ryu Shichinohe
At the Grand Slam of Paris double world silver medallist Shichinohe Ryu toiled to silver as he was marginally outworked by Tokyo Grand Slam winner Ojitani Takeshi. Shichinohe had won their previous two IJF World Judo Tour meetings, but has been under pressure after numerous defeats to Teddy Riner as Japan bid to find a heavyweight who can defeated the French master.
A third and final shido for Shichinohe handed the gold medal to Tokai University’s Ojitani as his domestic and international rival’s star appears to be waning.
In the first semi-final Shichinohe defeated former Junior world champion Ulziibayar Duurenbayar (MGL) after 35 seconds of golden score by osaekomi.
In the second semi-final Ojitani confidently defeated double Olympic bronze medallist Rafael Silva of Brazil in golden score by ippon.
The first bronze medal was won by Silva over Harun Sadikovic with a typically forceful drive for ippon.
The second and last bronze medal contest saw Ulziibayar hold down Guram Tushishvili (GEO) with a yoko-shiho-gatame for 20 seconds and ippon.
Result | City | Date |
---|---|---|
2 | Paris | 30 Jul |
1 | Abu Dhabi | 21 May |
1 | Zagreb | 26 Apr |
3 | Belgrade | 2023 |
2 | Montpellier | 2023 |