Roy Meyer makes his mark in Abu Dhabi

World bronze medallist Roy Meyer of the Netherlands held down former world bronze medallist Yakiv Khammo (UKR) for 20 seconds in added time to achieve his first Grand Slam victory. The world number six used his bulky frame to control his Ukrainian rival on the ground to follow up on his superb World Championships display with gold in Abu Dhabi. One-time Grand Slam winner Khammo failed to impose himself while Meyer is now in pole position in the Dutch battle for the +100kg spot at Tokyo 2020.

In the first semi-final Meyer countered world number 24 Iurii Krakovetskii (KGZ) for ippon with six seconds left on the clock.

In the second semi-final world number 18 Ushangi Kokauri (AZE) was brushed aside by Khammo who advanced with a sumptuous sumi-gaeshi that is rarely seen in the men’s heavyweight category.

The first bronze medal was won by Kokauri who sent world number 43 Oleksandr Gordiienko (UKR) over with a uchi-mata for the maximum score and his second Grand Slam medal for Azerbaijan. A weak ko-soto-gake was countered in style by the Azeri who will be among the heavyweight field at the season-ending Masters in December.

The second bronze medal went to five-time Grand Slam winner Kim Sungmin (KOR) who powered Krakovetskii over with a beautiful counter for ippon as South Korea were omnipresent in the final block.