Russia opens strong day with gold U90kg

At the Grand Slam of Abu Dhabi on the last day, Russia’s Mansur Lorsanov had the merit of eliminating the first seed, Uzbek Davlat Bobonov and consolidating Russian dominance in the last tournament of the season. He did it in an unprecedented way, for the first time with poise, like wanting to say that he has come to stay. For his part, Tajikistan’s Komronshokh Ustopiriyon had not played for a medal since the dawn of time. At 28 it seemed that his limit was the first rounds, but in Abu Dhabi he managed to separate all his opponents and get into the fight for gold in his own right.

However, in the final he had two problems. The first was the excellent kumi-kata of the Russian who nullified his strategy, if he had one. The second was his own inaction, which earned him a hansoku-make and the truth is that it was a shame because it was his first final in 19 appearances in grand slams. For the Russian, gold was a triumphant entry into the world of the elderly.

“This is my first gold medal at a grand slam event and I am very excited about that,” said Lorsanov.

The first bronze was a matter between neighbours. Tayijistan Dzhakhongir Madzhidov and Kyrgyzstan Erlan Sherov fought for a premiere on the World Judo Tour medal table. It was a dynamic match that was decided in a first golden score period, in line with the day before. Madzhidov won by hansoku-make and little more can be said, maybe that Tajikistan will have a warm winter with two medals in the closet. In fact there was one more but that one came at the very end.

The second bronze was a duel between eliminated favourite Bobonov and a semi-unknown 19 year old Frenchman, Francis Damier. He’s semi-unknown on the WJT but they say he has a lot of potential, as demonstrated by his junior European title. The Frenchman was soon penalised with shido. This is the WJT; you can't waste time. It is seen that the Frenchman has to mature because he is exposed to the potential for a launch at any time.