Tajik Nurali Emomali prolongs Tashkent title

Tournament gold medallist of last year in Tashkent Nurali Emomali (TJK) prolonged his title of last year. It was therefore a final between two underdogs that allowed the public to rejoice, between Baruch Shmailov (ISR) and Nurali Emomali (TJK). Baruch Shmailov (ISR), currently ranked a distant 37th place in the world, but who is remembered for his victory during the Jerusalem World Judo Masters in 2022.

After a rather balanced first half of the contest, Nurali Emomali scored a first waza-ari with a counter-attack, taking a strong lead. While the clock was ticking, Shmailov was also penalised twice, putting him in a difficult situation. When both judoka were penalised for avoiding gripping, Shmailov seemed a bit surprised to be disqualified but it was actually his third penalty. The gold medal was for Nurali Emomali, won in front of Ismoil Mahmadzoir, President of the Tajikistan Judo Federation, who will soon welcome the World Judo Tour.

The first bronze medal contest saw two individual neutral athletes, Murad Chopanov and Yago Abuladze, competing for a spot on the podium. Knowing each other very well, the two judoka went into the contest at full speed with Chopanov scoring a first waza-ari using a ura-nage. A few seconds later, Abuladze equalised with the same technique. With 20 seconds remaining, Abuladze launched a last attack but clearly used his head on the floor and was disqualified leaving the bronze medal for Murad Chopanov.

The home crowd still had one chance of a medal with Sardor Nurillaev (UZB), opposed by Willian Lima (BRA) who was hoping this time to step up onto the podium. At more than two minutes into golden score, Lima seemed a step behind, having two shido to his name. Nurillaev was controlling but could not score and eventually it was Lima who nabbed the bronze medal with an opportunist’s counter-attack for waza-ari. It was a disappointed Nurillaev but a happy Lima who this time reached the podium.