Guram Tushishvili wins fourth career Grand Slam

Guram Tushishvili is back and strong. The Georgian won again in the IJF World Tour after his victory in Israel in February. Alisher Yusupov (UZB) was not among the favourites of the competition, but Ilias Iliadis' protege had a perfect run through the preliminary rounds and qualified for the final against former world champion and Olympic silver medallist Tushishvili (GEO).

With his beard trimmed, the Georgian powerhouse seemed fitter at the beginning of the competition than in Tel Aviv in February, even if he won that event. Step by step, facing strong opponents, he seemed a bit nervous. Eventually he qualified for a new World Judo Tour final, proving that he remains one of the big names in the category.

It took less than a minute for Alisher Yusupov to score a first waza-ari with sumi-gaeshi combined with a clever change of direction. That score didn't stop the Uzbek, who a little later delivered a second waza-ari, but that was unfortunately cancelled. Unfortunate is the word for Yusupov, as Guram Tushishvili then did what he does best, throwing for ippon with a dropping tsuri-goshi. Even when he is in danger and maybe not on top form, the Georgian champion finds the resources to change the course of history. The story was that he could have been defeated, but he won, superbly. After Tel Aviv, Guram Tushishvili wins again.

It's been a long time since we've seen a French heavyweight at such a party, apart from the legend Teddy Riner of course. We must therefore pay tribute to the competition day of Joseph Terhec (FRA), who qualified for the bronze medal contest against Temur Rakhimov (TJK). Rakhimov was too tall, too strong and too technically good though. With superb preparation, Rakhimov launched an uchi-mata that didn't leave any space for escape; ippon and a bronze medal.

For the last third place in play in Antalya it was Andy Granda (CUB) and Richard Sipocz (HUN) who faced off. The golden score period was necessary to determine the winner. Three more minutes were needed for Granda to score waza-ari with a circular o-uchi-gari, that offered him the third grand slam bronze medal of his career.