Lasha Shavdatuashvili finishes where an injury stopped him in 2014

Olympic champion Lasha SHAVDATUASHVILI (GEO) achieved a career first as he won Grand Prix gold for the first time and in doing so finally looked at home in the -73kg category. SHAVDATUASHVILI emerged victorious against Mongolian legend KHASHBAATAR Tsagaanbaatar (MGL) to earn much-needed Olympic qualification points and undoubtedly a morale boost after finding the going hard in the category above -66kg where he won gold in London.

SHAVDATUASHVILI, who as an Olympic champion wears a gold backpatch, scored with a winding ouchi-gari as he left his foot there and KHASHBAATAR could not hold the Georgian off for a waza-ari score. Both judoka are idols in their own countries and revered around the world but the top place on the medal podium belonged to SHAVDATUASHVILI who scored a second waza-ari with a ura-nage. 

SHAVDATUASHVILI said: “Today I won my first Grand Prix gold medal which is something I have wanted for a long time. After I changed categories from -66kg to -73kg I started really badly at my new weight. It was hard to adjust, I needed to change a lot of things and develop my power. There were some low points for me but now I feel more comfortable. KHASHBAATAR is someone I have a lot of respect for as a champion and a person, he is a great sportsman and I look forward to our next meeting.”

In the first semi-final KHASHBAATAR bested top seed Dex ELMONT (NED) in a close contest which was settled on shido penalties. The first semi-final of the day saw ELMONT penalised for passivity after 90 seconds and then negative posture while KHASHBAATAR was only penalised for passivity. In the second semi-final SHAVDATUASHVILI downed Tashkent Grand Prix bronze medallist Pierre DUPRAT (FRA). The Georgian was successful by ippon and sensed gold could well be the outcome of his ever-improving day for the first time on the Grand Prix stage.

The first bronze medal was won by DUPRAT who denied 22-year-old Sofia European Open silver medallist Sami CHOUCHI (BEL) what would have been a first Grand Prix medal. It was a strong showing from DUPRAT on the ground as he created the space to catch the arm of the Belgian and submitted him with juji-gatame in the first minute. The second bronze medal was won by Dusseldorf Grand Prix bronze medallist Sagi MUKI (ISR) as a frustrating day for ELMONT ended with fifth-place. The second seed defeated the top seed as MUKI, who thwarted a hopeful tai-otoshi attack with ease, countered ELMONT for a yuko and the victory.