Dilshodbek Baratov gives Uzbekistan a golden start of the season

Uzbekistan was on fire at the first day of the IJF World Tour in 2024 with two gold medals. One was for lightweight Dilshodbek Baratov, the silver medallist of the last world championships in Doha.

In the final against Brazilian Michel Augusto (BRA)  halfway through the contest, there was only one shido on the scoreboard and Augusto had it next to his name. As things seemed quite balanced, Dilshodbek Baratov launched a beautiful uchi-mata for waza-ari. His tactical skills allowed Baratov to keep the distance and win a well-deserved gold medal.

Youssri Samy (EGY) has believed in his good luck for a long time. It must be said that he too seems to be very comfortable in Portugal, where he won a magnificent bronze medal during last year's junior worlds. Still a little behind in the world rankings, he began his day with a 34th place and therefore a rather unfavourable draw.

That didn't stop him from shining once again. After a first round victory against Chong-You Lin (TPE), he won against Gaizka Porras Ferreiro (ESP), Andrea Carlino (ITA) who had defeated the number one seed of the day, and Gamzat Zairbekov (AIN). He only had one step left to reach the final.

Samy’s progression was not to the taste of finalist Michel Augusto who blocked him at the last moment. In the final, the Brazilian judoka was pitted against Baratov (UZB), who thus reached his best level again after several unsuccessful outings.

The first bronze medal contest saw Gamzat Zairbekov (AIN), silver medallist last year at the Baku Grand Slam, and Turan Bayramov (AZE), second at the first edition of the Dushanbe Grand Prix in 2023. Under Zairbekov's pressure, Turan Bayramov cleverly waited for the mistakes to come. This came to fruition with a first foot technique  (de-ashi-barai) that was credited with a waza-ari and as the end of the contest was approaching and Gamzat Zairbekov was pushing forward, Bayramov rolled him over flat on his back for ippon and the bronze medal.

Youssry Samy (EGY) still had a chance to reach the podium as he was opposed by the world number four, Yung Wei Yang (TPE). Youssry Samy didn't seem at all impressed by competing against the world number four and Olympic silver medallist. Difficult to throw, always on the move, the Egyptian judoka definitely has the right stuff, but today it was still not quite enough. After a good groundwork sequence, Yung Wei Yang concluded his triangle turnover with a sankaku-gatame for ippon. Even if Yang seems to be a little off the mark compared to his best years, he is still on the podium of a World Judo Tour event.