Papinashvili the gold U60kg Tsendochir the hugs

European Games bronze medallist Amiran Papinashvili of Georgia pipped Junior world silver medallist Tsendochir Tsogtbaatar (MGL) in the first men’s final in Abu Dhabi. Tsendochir, 19, who won four of his five contests a week ago at the Junior World Championships, fell behind to a waza-ari before pulling back a yuko by countering a trademark pick up attempt from the Georgian.

Papinashvili added a yuko before Tsendochir added a second and then the former was in defensive mode as he changed his tactics. The Georgian talent received his third penalty for passivity with 14 seconds left and all but grinded to a halt in the final seconds as Tsendochir was desperately unlucky to finish as the runner-up for the second time in Abu Dhabi in the space of a week.

The Mongolian starlet received a tap on the back and hug from IJF President Marius Vizer during the awarding ceremony for his battling display.

World champion Yeldos Smetov (KAZ) was shocked in his first contest by Bekir Ozlu (TUR) by a shido penalty and will be keen to return to action as soon as possible.

In the first semi-final Tashkent Grand Prix bronze medallist Diyorbek Urozboev (UZB) lost out to Tsendochir by a shido penalty. In the second semi-final Papinashvili was severely tested by Minsk European Open silver medallist Bekir Ozlu (TUR) but prevailed by a shido.

The first bronze medal was claimed by world silver medallist Rustam Ibrayev (KAZ) who squeezed past Ozlu by a yuko score in a closely fought contest. The second bronze medal went to world number 16 Urozboev who captured a place on a Grand Slam podium for the first time in his career be seeing off Zagreb Grand Prix winner Hovhannes Davtyan (ARM) in golden score. Davtyan was penalised for the fourth and final time after 33 seconds of added time to receive hansoku-make and finish in fifth-place.