Surprising final U81kg won by Shaxzod Sobirov

Tashkent Grand Prix bronze medallist of Uzbekistan Shaxzod Sobirov won his first Grand Slam gold medal by overcoming world number 104 from Russia Sergey Ryabov in the U81kg final. Ryabov was caught with ashi-waza for a waza-ari and could not trouble the scoreboard but still won his first IJF World Judo Tour medal and, like his conqueror, will be a name to keep tabs on.

In the first semi-final Sobirov defeated Otgonbaatar Uuganbaatar of Mongolia on single shido penalty while in the second semi-final Ryabov (RUS) defeated fellow surprise package Adrian Nacimiento Lorenzo (ESP) by waza-ari.

The first bronze medal was clinched by Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games bronze medallist Frank De Wit (NED) who bested former Lisbon European Open bronze medallist Nacimiento Lorenzo with a yuko from a ko-soto-gake the difference at the end of the contest. Bronze was the best result of the 19-year-old Junior European champion’s young career and his first at a Grand Slam. The two youngest medallists of this 2015 edition in Paris were both Dutch including Michael Korrel. European Junior champion Frank de Wit is the third youngest this year at Grand Slams. 

The second bronze medal was won by Otgonbaatar who submitted Baku Grand Slam bronze medallist Maruyama Goki (JPN) of Tenri University on the edge of the area with a juji-gatame.