Lucio Tavoletta brings Italy to the top

The U73kg category at the Cadet World Championships was topped by Lucio Tavoletta, the Italian world number one who already has golds from European Cups in Fuengirola and Coimbra this year and also a very special one from the Europeans in June. His kata-guruma and seoi-nage attacks have devastated the rest of the field and with that his ranking is almost confirmed.

Tavoletta had a bye and 4 wins to reach the final, to face 16 year old Bakhtadze (GEO). The fifth seed threw or strangled everyone and with a range of well-drilled, mixed-direction techniques. Abdisalamov (TKM) was thrown with a sode-tsuri-komi-goshi and then an o-uchi-gari before the Canadian was strangled and the Japanese, Arakawa, was also despatched.

Velickovic (SRB) met him in the semi-final and should have provided more challenge but Bakhtadze sailed through to the final. The Serbian had a tough day but his will to win and overall staying power was outstanding, a young athlete who can hold his ground no matter the pressure.

Arakawa arrived in Zagreb with some expectation of success and his ne-waza skills particularly gave him a sincere advantage over the rest but in the cadet age band we find the gaps that must be filled before these athletes can take their places among the best juniors and seniors. Arakawa lacked strategy and also failed to anticipate the danger that comes with a change in rhythm or a full contact 50-50 situation. He had won with ko-soto-gari and a hold in his first contest, a tight shime-waza in the second and an osaekomi in the third but when he met the Georgian there was no groundwork available!

Elsewhere in the group there were ippon finishes all over the place, showing that the level is high, even for those who don’t leave with medals. A medal at -73 kg here is a huge indicator of potential.

The first bronze medal was contested by Shukurov (AZE) and Velickovic. It was tense and well-intentioned but despite the number of attack attempts neither could muster the precision required to scratch a score in to the Baird. It was a shido apiece going into golden score but the deadlock was broken at 1:40 into extra time as the Azeri hooked into a full power o-uchi-gari and flattened his opponent.

The second medal of the category went to Ablakulov of Uzbekistan, despite an excellent day from the Hungarian, Pinter. The Uzbek won the Tashkent Asian Cadet Cup this year and is ranked 15th in the world but the Hungarian came from a distant 76th in the world and not a single medal to his name. Today he is 5th in the world and can be extremely proud of what he has achieved. Perhaps we will see both of these athletes again in the future.

The final was so close and so exciting. Both men can throw, both men want to throw and that impetus makes for a high energy match, exactly what we want from a final. Tavoletta never gives up. Bakhtadze never gives up. It could have been a stalemate but their styles wouldn’t allow it. Eventually the gold was decided by penalties in favour of the Italian but that didn’t do the outstanding judo and gymnastic ability justice.

The U73kg category at the Cadet World Championships was topped by Lucio Tavoletta, the Italian world number one who already has golds from European Cups in Fuengirola and Coimbra this year and also a very special one from the Europeans in June. His kata-guruma and seoi-nage attacks have devastated the rest of the field and with that his ranking is almost confirmed.

Tavoletta had a bye and 4 wins to reach the final, to face 16 year old Bakhtadze (GEO). The fifth seed threw or strangled everyone and with a range of well-drilled, mixed-direction techniques. Abdisalamov (TKM) was thrown with a sode-tsuri-komi-goshi and then an o-uchi-gari before the Canadian was strangled and the Japanese, Arakawa, was also despatched.

Velickovic (SRB) met him in the semi-final and should have provided more challenge but Bakhtadze sailed through to the final. The Serbian had a tough day but his will to win and overall staying power was outstanding, a young athlete who can hold his ground no matter the pressure.

Arakawa arrived in Zagreb with some expectation of success and his ne-waza skills particularly gave him a sincere advantage over the rest but in the cadet age band we find the gaps that must be filled before these athletes can take their places among the best juniors and seniors. Arakawa lacked strategy and also failed to anticipate the danger that comes with a change in rhythm or a full contact 50-50 situation. He had won with ko-soto-gari and a hold in his first contest, a tight shime-waza in the second and an osaekomi in the third but when he met the Georgian there was no groundwork available!

Elsewhere in the group there were ippon finishes all over the place, showing that the level is high, even for those who don’t leave with medals. A medal at -73 kg here is a huge indicator of potential.

The first bronze medal was contested by Shukurov (AZE) and Velickovic. It was tense and well-intentioned but despite the number of attack attempts neither could muster the precision required to scratch a score in to the Baird. It was a shido apiece going into golden score but the deadlock was broken at 1:40 into extra time as the Azeri hooked into a full power o-uchi-gari and flattened his opponent.

The second medal of the category went to Ablakulov of Uzbekistan, despite an excellent day from the Hungarian, Pinter. The Uzbek won the Tashkent Asian Cadet Cup this year and is ranked 15th in the world but the Hungarian came from a distant 76th in the world and not a single medal to his name. Today he is 5th in the world and can be extremely proud of what he has achieved. Perhaps we will see both of these athletes again in the future.

The final was so close and so exciting. Both men can throw, both men want to throw and that impetus makes for a high energy match, exactly what we want from a final. Tavoletta never gives up. Bakhtadze never gives up. It could have been a stalemate but their styles wouldn’t allow it. Eventually the gold was decided by penalties in favour of the Italian but that didn’t do the outstanding judo and gymnastic ability justice.