Hifumi Abe reissues the Olympic final against Margvelashvili

The final of the Grand Slam in Budapest of the mighty U66kg category was between Hifumi Abe and on the other side Vazha Margvelashvili, otherwise labelled as the reissue of the Olympic final. Abe is not one of those who lavish much on the World Judo Tour, like all Japanese in general, especially since the Olympics. That Hifumi Abe would win the -66kg gold was never in doubt. The only question was what stunning techniques would he use along the way?

There they have their own rhythm and nothing alters them. In Tokyo, he achieved eternal glory with a victory over the Georgian and, since then, silence on the airwaves. Margvelashvili has indeed come out of his burrow. Two bronze medals in Paris and Tbilisi, nothing exceptional for a man like him, whom, like Abe, is preparing for the world championships in October. What we see now is far from the peak of form that both are looking to reach in Tashkent, but it is an indication of where they are now. They responded promptly to our question.

He began his campaign throwing Xue Ziyang (CHN) with a superb sode-tsurikomi-goshi that started off as a two-handed throw but finished off one-handed.

Next, he threw Ibrahim Aliyev (AZE) with one of his favorites: sode-osoto-gari. He uses this often as his opponents are usually very scared of his sode. So, instead of throwing them to the front, he throws them to the back.

Historically, Abe has had some problems with Mongolian players and so it was with his third opponent, Kherlen Ganbold (MGL). Try as he might, Abe was not able to throw him for a score. He eventually won in Golden Score after Ganbold got a third shido and thus, hansoku-make.

His semifinal was against the dynamic and unorthodox Walide Khyar (FRA), who is known for massive pick-up techniques. Abe demolished him with a waist-grip ouchi-gari made famous by his teammate Naohisa Takato. Both Hifumi and his sister Uta, do this technique.

Abe's final was against Rakhimjon Subhonov (UZB) and there he did not disappoint. First off, he knocked Subhonov down with kouchi-gari for waza-ari. Then he did one of the throws of the tournament: An opportunistic one-handed sode done just as his opponent was charging forward towards him. Abe made this incredibly dynamic throw look effortless.

The Israeli Tal Flicker defeated the French Walid Khyar, adding a second medal for his country, the fourth in his private account.

Ganbold and Kodzhakov opted for the second bronze in a spectacular match. The medal ended up hanging around Ganbold's neck by hansokumake.