Bogdan Iadov's Drop Ouchi was super efficient

European Champion Bogdan Iadov is a drop ouchi-gari specialist. In the recent Europeans in Sofia, where he won the U66kg gold, Iadov used variations of this technique in four out of the five matches he had.

In his match against Ejder Toktay (TUR), he took an outside grip onto the side of Toktay with his tsurite (lapel hand). He dropped to both his knees, rotating slightly. With Toktay's leg trapped, he drives backwards and lands uke largely on his back. But he lost control of his grips, which made the throw less impactful. Waza-ari was given.

Iadov did a very clever combination in his next match, against Israel's Baruch Shmailov. He came in as he normally would for his drop ouchi, however the finishing was different. He actually got up as he drove Shmailov towards the back and then he finished it off with a kosoto-gake with his left leg. It's truly an amazing combination. You can see it from another angle below.

In his match against Yashar Najafov (AZE), he did another very clever combination variation that involved kosoto. He attacked Najafov not once but twice with drop ouchi. Both times, Najafov evaded the ouchi by stepping back. The third attack was not an ouchi but a kosoto. what a fantastic combination.

Iadov's opponent in the final was Alberto Gaitero Martin (ESP). He attacked him with drop ouchi-gari too. His tsurite grip was on the inside this time though. The finishing was very similar to the one he did on Toktay of Turkey except this time he did not lose his grip. This allowed him to drive Gaitero Martin flat on his back for ippon.