Chinese Sai takes historic gold medal at world level

It was a historical victory for China and World number 88 SAI Yinjirigala (CHN) who upset home favourite Sainjargal Nyam-Ochir (MGL) to win his first World Judo Tour title with a breathtaking display of sheer quality which even won the admiration of the home fans.

SAI shocked the Olympic bronze medallist with a huge ippon which will be a fixture in highlight reels for years to come. It never occurred that a Chinese male athlete won a gold medal at world level outside China. Only three title were realized in China’s Grand Prix in Qingdao.

In the first semi-final SAI defeated 2013 Ulaanbaatar Grand Prix winner SANJAASUREN Miyaragchaa (MGL) to alert the host nation to his imminent threat to Mongolia’s gold medal chances in one of their favoured categories. SAI won the scoreless bout by a single shido as his record was unblemished while his Mongolian foe would rue his penalty and had to fight for bronze. In the second semi-final SAINJARGAL was awarded the victory as Olympic champion Mansur ISAEV (RUS) withdrew due to fatigue. The Russian had engaged in an energy-sapping and thrilling quarter-final clash with Mongolian legend KHASHBAATAR in the quarter-final which he won by a yuko.

The first bronze medal was clinched by Asian Championships bronze medallist GANBAATAR as ISAEV had already withdrawn from the competition. The second bronze medal was won by Rome European Open bronze medallist SUN Shuai (CHN) who stopped Mongolia’s run of medals in the category by toppling SANJAASUREN by ippon after just 54 seconds.