Rustam Orujov Europe’s best man

Rustam Orujov (AZE) does not need to be introduced. Twice a silver medalist at the World Championships, silver medalist at the last Olympic Games and winner of the World Judo Masters, he is currently second in the world ranking list and here in Hungary he was seeded number one. The Azeri did not disappoint as he blasted his way to the final where he found the Swiss fighter Nils Stump, whose track record is far from that of his opposition.

This place in the final nevertheless makes it possible to underline the good health of Swiss Judo, which was on display yesterday too, with a silver from Fabienne Kocher and a fifth place from Evelyne Tschopp, both in U52kg, leaving Switzerland at 5th on the medal table.

In the final, only a few second were needed for Orujov to deliver brilliant stuff with a superb o-uchi-gari. Initially announced ippon, it was downgraded to waza-ari, offering another chance to watch the class of Orujov. This though was the time Stump decided to change the rhythm, to score a surprising waza-ari on a counter attack. The magic of judo is that nothing is ever written in advance. The dynamic of the final changed completely with the full involvement of the Swiss judoka, pushing Orujov to his limits. It was only in the last thirty seconds that the Azeri finally managed to initiate a sumi-gaeshi for a liberating second waza-ari.

The work of Nicolas Gill, head coach of team Canada, continues to pay off, with the third place of Arthur Margelidon, who sent Musa Mogushkov (RUS) to the mat, thanks to a timely driving o-uchi-gari after 2 minutes of golden score. The surprise came from the second bronze medal match, with the defeat of Tommy Macias (SWE) eliminated by Petru Pelivan (MDA) who has so far only climbed to 126th place in the world ranking and with no record on the World Judo Tour. This is not the case any more. This medal is a beautiful tribute at Vasile Colta, the well-known and beloved judo coach from the Republic of Moldova, who passed away this week at October 19, 2020.