Adil Osmanov wins gold for Moldova in Linz

Neither Adil Osmanov nor Rashid Mammadaliyev could afford another mistake in the final of the Grand Prix Upper Austria U73kg. Both men were under pressure, each judoka received two penalties, leaving no chance for any mistake. This is the time Osmanov chose to score a first waza-ari with ko-soto-gake putting even more pressure on his opponent's shoulders.

After a confused sequence, Osmanov launched a desperate sumi-gaeshi that had a landing that offered just enough for a second waza-ari. Mammadaliyev again finishes with the silver medal, the gold going to Adil Osmanov of Moldova.

With the names of the gold and silver medallists known, what remained to be discovered was who would win the bronze medals. The first bronze medal contest thus opposed Ioan Dzitac (ROU) and Hassan Doukkali (MAR), who had a good chance to collect some important points towards Olympic qualification. Unfortunately, unable to compete, Doukkali had to give the medal away to Ioan Dzitac.

Author of a brilliant first part of the competition, once again Jack Yonezuka (USA) showed that he was getting closer and closer to the top athletes of the category as he qualified to fight for a place on the podium against Koen Heg (NED). The contest was almost perfect because Jack Yonezuka didn't take long to go to the floor and turn his opponent to pin him down for ippon. In other circumstances, it would have taken several attempts to exhaust Koen Heg. This time it worked immediately. The ippon for Jack Yonezuka and a well deserved bronze medal for the American judoka, his first on the World Judo Tour.

The way to the next contests seemed open for Dzitac but not for long as he bowed out to 2023 Linz bronze medallist, Adil Osmanov (MDA) in the quarter-final, the Moldovan using the momentum well to reach the final after a victory against Koen Heg (NED) in the semi-final. The contest was totally dominated by Osmanov who scored a first waza-ari with ko-uchi-gari and then pushed his opponent to be penalised three times.

Among the possible medallists of the day was last year's grand prix winner Tohar Butbul (ISR) but the Israeli judoka couldn't repeat his performance and was eliminated early by Koen Heg. If Butbul's feat was different, his opponent from the 2023 final, Rashid Mammadaliyev (AZE), had a good first part of the competition again since he joined Osmanov in the final, hoping this time that the result would be slightly different. The main challenge for Mammadaliyev was the round three contest against Akil Gjakova (KOS), a judoka who defeated him a few weeks ago at the Paris Grand Slam 2024. This time the victory went to the Azeri who took silver today in Linz.