Daiki Kamikawa remains capable to take World level gold

Former world champion Kamikawa Daiki defeated 2013 world bronze medallist Faicel Jaballah to win Japan’s sixth gold medal in the final contest of the Judo Grand Prix, Dusseldorf 2014. Kamikawa succeeded where his teammate Harasawa had failed as he forced the action and Jaballah was unwilling to go toe-to-toe which saw him accumulate four shido penalties which was two more than his rival.

Jaballah confirmed a place in the heavyweight final by defeating Harasawa Hisayoshi on shido penalties as the former received one for going out of the area while the Japanese fighter picked up three for passivity. In the second semi-final eventual winner Kamikawa was too strong for gutsy 20-year-old Baku Grand Slam bronze medallist Levani Matiashvili of Georgia. Kamikawa required 25 seconds to throw the Georgian and then held him with a kesa-gatame for for wazari-awasette-ippon.

The first bronze medal went to world silver medallist Rafael SILVA (BRA) after victory against Harasawa who, after receiving three shido penalties for passivity, was bundled over with a uchi-mata for a decisive yuko score with 30 seconds left. The second bronze medal was won by World Judo Masters winner Adam Okruashvili in a bitter-sweet victory over compatriot and Junior World Championships bronze medallist Matiashvili who had to withdraw from the contest after sustaining an injury when Okruashvili scored a yuko from a ko-soto-gake. Okruashvili stayed on the tatami to check on the condition of his colleague and helped him up to receive medical treatment.