Golden comeback for Hidayet Heydarov in Zagreb

The second day of the Judo Grand prix in Zagreb was also a day of redemption for some athletes who had strong world and Olympic hopes a few months ago. Unfortunately for them their hopes were disassembled by the reality of the tatami. This was the case for Hidayat Heydarov (AZE), junior world champion in 2017, two times world bronze medallist and a European champion too.

Being 11th on the World Ranking List and top seed of the Grand Prix in Zagreb, Victor Sterpu (MDA) is not a surprise. He reached the final of the category after defeating Jeroen Casse (BEL), Ayub Khazhaliev (RUS) and then Mark Hristov (BEL) in the semi-final. In the second half of the draw, Hidayat Heydarov had to work hard to also reach the final after four intense matches. 

Heydarov's 47th place in the world is not representative of the talent of the 24 year old athlete from Azerbaijan. There is no doubt that a competition like Zagreb is always good to get some confidence back.

3'57 of the four minutes of allotted time were necessary for Heydarov to find a tiny opportunity, after what looked like a dance between the two athletes and it could have gone either way. Ultimately it was the Azerbaijani champion who scored a liberating ippon.

The two Russians Ayub Khazhaliev and Makhmadbek Makhmadbekov (RUS) found themselves in the first bronze medal contest for only one spot on the podium. It was Makhmadbek Makhmadbekov who took that spot after scoring twice, the second score being a brilliant change in direction from hip movement to sutemi-waza. This is Makhmadbekov's first medal at a grand prix.

The second bronze medal contest saw Alexandru Raicu (ROU), winner of the Tel Aviv Grand Slam earlier this season and Mark Hristov (BUL), a silver medallist at the 2017 Cadet World Championships in Santiago de Chile. It didn't seem immediately clear why Mark Hristov was awarded ippon but the video refereeing was indisputable. As RAICU was trying to apply a sacrifice technique, Hristov engaged his leg inside and score with an o-uchi-gari. This is the first medal for the Bulgarian judoka, at this level.