Intelligent victory brings Tato Grigalashvili the second world title

The last three world judo championships at U81kg have seen the top 2 ranked athletes in the world, Tato Grigalashvili (GEO) and Matthias Casse (BEL), produce two of the most thrilling finals on the IJF World Tour in recent memory. A unique set of three consecutive finals between the two.

The two judoka always bring everything they have to the table, all while fully embodying the values and the spirit of judo. In the first of those finals, Casse emerged as a the new world champion and the second saw Grigalashvili claim his maiden crown. Such was its brilliance and its resonance with judo fans across the world, the latter final was voted ‘Moment of the Year’ at the 2022 IJF Awards.

With Grigalashvili and Casse once again seeded 1 and 2 in Doha, many judo fans were hoping for a 3rdmeeting between the two on the biggest stage of the year but with all of the world’s top 10 present, not counting the Tokyo Olympic champion Nagase, also present, that final was never guaranteed. The -81kg field in Doha was dripping with talent, with world champions, grand slam and grand prix winners in every pool. The competition proved to be everything we hoped for and more.

Unlike their previous two world finals, this one proved to be surprisingly one-sided. The Georgian produced several powerful sacrifice throws in the first minute which all came tantalisingly close to scoring. Casse struggled to off-balance his opponent and reduce the pressure placed on him. Around the 3-minute mark, Grigalashvili changed tack, catching Casse off guard with a rapid ippon-seoi-nage, scoring a waza-ari and leaving Casse without enough time to find a response. As the buzzer sounded the Georgian let out a huge roar; he had successfully defended his world title and seems to be going from strength to strength as the Paris 2024 Olympics loom.

The first bronze medal was contested by Nagase and Muki, after Nagase won his repechage match with Borchashvili using his trademark ashi-waza. The medal contest was a cagey affair with neither player able to obtain their desired kumi-kata. The fight was eventually decided on the ground as Nagase rolled Muki over with yoko-gaeshi and freed his entangled leg to pin the Israeli for ippon. Nagase’s throwing ability is among the best in the category but he often struggled to keep up with his younger opposition in Doha. Nevertheless, he adds an excellent 3rd world medal to his tally.

The second bronze medal contest was fought between Francois Gauthier Drapeau (CAN) and Lee. The Korean outpaced his opponent from the first ‘hajime,’ and threw him flat on his back with a typically fast seoi-nage. Lee claims his first world medal and was clearly ecstatic after finishing 7th in last year’s World Championships in Tashkent.

The shock early exit of Tokyo Olympic silver medallist and number 3 seed Saeid Mollaei (AZE) in round 2, due to disqualification for attempting to throw using his head, had left pool D wide open, and 2019 world champion Sagi Muki took full advantage. He showed echoes of his title-winning form, throwing Gramatikov (BUL), Gereltuya (MGL) and then 5-time grand slam bronze medallist Gauthier Drapeau (CAN) with his typical blend of explosive and off-the-grip throws. He was through to a world semi-final for the first time since he won his title.

Of the top two seeds, it was Casse that was drawn to meet Muki in that semi-final and though he initially struggled, he came into his stride as the rounds went on. Down two shidos in round 2 against Esposito (ITA), he came alive at the start of the golden score period and produced a huge sasae-tsuri-komi-ashi to throw the Italian for ippon. He survived a blow to the head against Del Orbe Cortorreal (DOM) in round 3 to hold onto a waza-ari scored using yoko-tomoe-nage. In the quarter-final against Ungvari (HUN) he took a controlled tactical victory to ease through to face Muki.

Muki held a 6-2 winning record over Casse going into the contest but Casse had been victorious in their last 2 encounters. The Belgian kept this trend going in Doha, using his superior ne-waza skills to roll Muki over and hold him in kuzure-kami-shiho-gatame to make it through to another world final.

In the early rounds, Grigalashvili had a hard time finding the kind of explosiveness that he has become known for but he found it nonetheless. He first threw Moutii (MAR) in round 2 and then Rizoev (TJK) in round 3, with seoi-nage attacks. In the quarter-final he met Wachid Borchashvili (AUT), younger brother of Shamil, the Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist. Both players appeared to fatigue quickly and struggled to find an opening. That was until the 2nd minute of golden score when a kata-guruma attempt from the Austrian was countered by Grigalashvili using hikikomi-gaeshi. A waza-ari for the Georgian put him through to the semi-final.

His opponent there was the breakout star of the weight category in 2022, Joonhwan Lee (KOR), who won 2 grand slams in a row in June of last year, beating Grigalashvili along the way. However, in contrast to the earlier rounds in Doha, the Georgian rediscovered his explosive best, throwing Lee twice in 34 seconds, first with a classic Georgian uchi-mata, followed by a rapid sumi-gaeshi. The Korean was left dumbfounded and Grigalashvili was set to face Casse once more, a unique performances of both super stars in judo.