Barna Bor develops as World medallist outsider

Samsun Grand Prix bronze medallist Bor Barna (HUN) entered unchartered territory on the last day in Baku as he contested a Grand Slam final and dually won his first gold medal on this stage. World number eight BOR has grown into being a serious heavyweight contender and claimed the last contest of the Baku Grand Slam against Zagreb Grand Prix bronze medallist Roy Meyer (NED).

Bor and Meyer cancelled each other out for the full five minutes with only two shido penalties to their names but the result was determined 30 seconds later when a ko-soto-gari earned a yuko score and the winner screamed with delight.    

In the first semi-final Bor was too powerful for Aslan Kambiev (RUS) as he won by ippon at the halfway stage while in the second semi-final Meyer also saw off Russian opposition. The Dutch fighter shaded Budapest Grand Prix bronze medallist Andrey Volkov (RUS) with a drop seoi-nage enough for a yuko score.

The first bronze medal went to VOLKOV who dismissed Tbilisi Grand Prix bronze medallist Oleksandr GORDIIENKO (UKR) by ippon after only 36 seconds. The second bronze medal went to Tbilisi Grand Prix winner Levani MATIASHVILI (GEO) who bested KAMBIEV. Georgian youngster MATIASHVILI went ahead with a waza-ari from ashi-waza and wrapped up a crucial result with osaekomi-waza for 15 seconds as he outperformed teammate and top seed Adam OKRUASHVILI (GEO) who had fallen to KAMBIEV in the second round.