Danil Lavrentyev claims gold in Odivelas, Makhmadbekov safe with bronze

Danil Lavrentyev (AIN) captured the gold medal at the Grand Prix in Portugal. Last year Lavrentyev took a silver medal at the Grand Slam in Ulaanbaatar at the first occasion where Independent Athletes could fight again. The 700 points will bring him closer to a qualification for the Games but he is way behind his rival Makhmadbek Makhmadbekov who claimed the bronze medal in Odivelas.

A title holder here in Portugal, Obidkhon Nomanov (UZB) had a clear advantage, that of starting the day as number one seed. His first victory, with a magnificent de-ashi-barai for waza-ari, against Jorge Cano Garcia (ESP), gave him confidence. Building on this, he followed up with a victory against Heoncheol Kang (KOR) and Chol Gwang Kim (PRK). Everything was going well, until he was pitted against Danil Lavrentyev (AIN) who ruined Nomanov's hopes of a Portuguese double.

It remained to be seen who would face Lavrentyev in the final. Would it be a Japanese judoka out of nowhere, the Spaniard Salvador Cases Roca, Makhmadbek Makhmadbekov (AIN) or any other contender? It was ultimately the European silver medalist, Salvador Cases Roca, who earned his place in the final by defeating the Japanese Ryuga Tanaka in the semi-final.

This was a very interesting final, between two different judo styles and two different judoka, but the result was spectacular. On one side we had Salvador Cases Roca trying the throw but especially trying to go to the floor, where his skills are particularly effective. On the other side, we had Danil Lavrentyev launching wide attacks and avoiding the groundwork as much as possible. It could have gone either way but in the end Danil Lavrentyev launched a massive o-uchi-gari for a clear ippon.

Chol Gwang Kim (PRK) and Ryuga Tanaka (JPN) still had to do the job to get on the podium. A first waza-ari came from Tanaka with an uchi-mata on the edge of the competition area. It didn't take long to see the second score, with a combination of seoi-o-uchi-gari and after several changes of direction, Chol Gwang Kim landed on his back; a bronze medal for the young Ryuga Tanaka.

Makhmadbek Makhmadbekov (AIN) and Obidkhon Nomanov (UZB) had not yet lost everything since they still had a chance to reach the podium. In the end, Makhmadbek Makhmadbekov won the medal, as Obidkhon Nomanov was disqualified.