Taigo Sugimoto stays undefeated for Japan in final against Huseynov

The largest weight category on day one of the World Junior Championships, with a whopping 47 judoka, saw Japan come to the fore as 19-year-old All Japan Junior Championships winner Sugimoto Taigo was the source of his country’s second world title. Sugimoto rose to the occasion in his first IJF event as he defeated 19-year-old Junior European Championships winner Karamat Huseynov (AZE) after 30 seconds of golden score.

The Japanese trapped his Azeri foe with a kesa-gatame hold for 20 seconds and the biggest victory of his career.

In the first semi-final Huseynov shocked former Cadet World Championships winner Koga Genki (JPN) with a reverse seoi-nage for ippon. In the second semi-final Junior Pan American Championships winner Robson Penna (BRA) succumb to Sugimoto. The Japanese built a significant advantage with two waza-ari scores without reply before holding down the Brazilian with a kesa-gatame for 20 seconds.

The first bronze medal was won by 20-year-old Worlds debutant Jagvaraldorj Amarbold (MGL) who earned his country’s second medal of the day by pinning down Penna in osaekomi for 20 seconds.

The second bronze medal went to Koga who showed his character to beat two-time Junior European Cup winner Ayub Bliev (RUS) under the gaze of the World Championships as murmurs of his name and his famous father spreading around the venue. Whether it’s fair or unfair, Koga junior cannot escape his name, the legacy of his father and the immense level of expectation that comes with carrying the family name. The 18-year-old submitted Bliev with an intricate piece of shime-waza to win his second World Championships medal and to add to the family legacy while he has time to work on all areas of his game before coming back to compete at the Junior Worlds in future years.

Day one saw 127 judoka (79 men, 48 women) in action as Japan wasted no time in stamping their name on the competition as they won two gold medals from the four weight categories.

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