Sharafuddin Lutfillaev prevails against impressive McKenzie

Sharafuddin Lutfillaev (UZB) rescued the U60kg final in Zagreb in the closing seconds after Ashley Mckenzie (GBR) was given his marching orders for his third shido. Londoner Mckenzie, who is closing in on a place at his third consecutive Olympics, was on the verge of his first IJF gold medal

On his 37th attempt on the Grand Prix stage alone – with a waza-ari advantage before letting the world-class Uzbek and Marrakech Grand Prix winner back into the final and with 15 seconds remaining McKenzie was passive and was disqualified to his bitter disappointment.

In the first semi-final Lutfillaev prevailed by ippon against Asian-Pacific Championships bronze medallist Enkhtaivan Ariunbold (MGL) while in the second semi-final Antalya Grand Prix bronze medallist Mckenzie defeated 20-year-old Grand Prix debutant Tomer Golomb (POL) by the maximum score.

The first bronze medal was won by Golomb who dismissed Rome European Open silver medallist Dauren Syukenov (KAZ) after just 40 seconds with a tani-otoshi to mark his first IJF start with a place on the podium.                                                         

The second bronze medal went to Enkhtaivan who launched Baku Grand Slam silver medallist Temur Nozadze (GEO) for ippon with a stunning tani-otoshi to open his IJF World Judo Tour medal account.