Double Olympic medallist Lasha Shavdatuashvili clinches first Grand Slam title

London 2012 Olympic champion and Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Lasha Shavdatuashvili (GEO) has now won as many Grand Slam titles as he has Olympic titles. The Georgian star, who took silver at the Paris Grand Slam in February, finally topped the medal podium at a Grand Slam in his 11th attempt by a waza-ari score against Akil Gjakova (KOS) in the reverse result from the first Grand Slam of the year.

In the first semi-final Agadir Grand Prix silver medallist Musa Mogushkov (RUS) was edged out by Gjakova by a waza-ari score in golden contest which was the only score in the bout. In the second semi-final Cancun Grand Prix gold medallist Tommy Macias (SWE) lost out to Shavdatuashvili by ippon.

The first bronze medal was won by Macias who defeated defending Abu Dhabi Grand Slam winner Ganbaatar Odbayar (MGL) by the margin of two scores. Swedish star Macias outgripped and outfought the rugged Mongolian as he registered two waza-ari scores to seal a place on the podium. The Mongolian has now finished fifth at his last six competitions.

The second bronze medal went to Mogushkov who beat Prague European Open silver medallist Artem Khomula (UKR) after 42 seconds by ippon. Russia’s Mogushkov caught his Ukranian opponent with a ko-uchi-gari to win his 13th Grand Slam medal in a spectacular finish.