Golden Assunta Scutto blocks Azeri ambition of Aliyeva

Azerbaijan was close to a sensation, never an Azeri woman had won a Grand Slam and Leyla Aliyeva was so close, but eventually it was Italian Assunta Scutto who captured the gold medal.

Starting as the number one seed in the competition, Assunta Scutto had a clear advantage to reach the final block but as we saw in other weight categories fought today, this was not a guarantee of success. Her ranking did not frighten the Italian judoka, who got rid of each of her opponents to reach the final, but it was not an easy ride.

In the final, she found the first chance of a gold medal for the host country, since it was the surprising Leyla Aliyeva (AZE) who qualified at the expense of much higher ranked judoka. This is how the young Azeri judoka took on world number two and world silver medallist Shirine Boukli (FRA), who did not expect such opposition. In the semi-final, Aliyeva, with momentum on her side, won against world number 6, Milica Nikolic (SRB). Everything was still possible in the final.

Leyla Aliyeva was not afraid of facing the world number one and was the first to action, producing attacks that were sometimes close to scoring. Assunta Scutto is not world number one for no reason though and she didn't let the opportunity fly away, when Aliyeva made a small mistake on the floor. With a well-executed turnover, Scutto pinned down her opponent, who couldn't escape, for ippon. The world number one stays number one.

The first contest for a bronze medal was between Sabina Giliazova (AIN) and Milica Nikolic (SRB). With 35 participations in grand slams, Nikolic has a strong experience of that level of competition, but even if Sabina Giliazova was less experienced, she produced a beautiful ashi-waza, making Nikolic rotate flat on her back for ippon. The bronze medal was for Sabina Giliazova.

Undoubtedly not satisfied with her performance today, Boukli nevertheless had a chance to step on the podium against Laura Martinez Abelenda. It must be underlined that at -48kg there are several countries with several athletes in the top 20 which will make it difficult to determine yet who will go to the Games. This applies of course for the nations that have to qualify as it applies for France that has already the spot as the host nation but all will have to choose the judoka with the best chances next year. Spain and Italy are in that position and today’s match will give some indications of potential future choices.

Both judoka perfectly neutralised the other and had to enter the golden score period, one of the few of the day. A third shido was given to Laura Martinez Abelenda and that offered the victory and the bronze medal to Shirin Boukli.