Abrek Naguchev in the footsteps of Arsen Galstya with junior gold

The last final of the opening day of the Junior World Championships in Olbia opposed Abrek Naguchev (RUS) and Lennart Slamberger (GER) after they respectively defeated Maxime Gobert (FRA) and Radu Izvoreanu (MDA) in the semi-final stage. Naguchev took the world title like former Arsen Glstyan in 2008 who later captured the Olympic title in 2012 in London.

Slamberger looked strong and confident in his attacks but Naguchev, smaller than his opponent, was just waiting. When the German competitor made his first mistake of the day, the Russian champion did not let it go and countered Slamberger for ippon and won the gold medal for Russia.

Abrek Naguchev said, "The reason I have won is because I lost my two previous big competitions and I never felt such a huge feeling of revenge. I felt untouchable today so this is the key, to never give up."

The first bronze medal contest saw Yevhen Honcharko (UKR) and Radu Izvoreanu (MDA) competing for a junior world medal. The winner was decided swiftly as Honcharko countered his opponent for a clear ippon.

The second bronze medal contest opposed Mexican Robin Jara and French Maxime Gobert. It was not an easy win for Gobert who was scored against first with a nicely executed tai-otoshi, but the Frenchman came back step by step and imposed his power before concluding on the floor with an arm-lock for ippon and a first medal at this level of competition.