Vazha Margvelashvili gave Georgians something to shout about when he was crowned champion, thrilling the home crowd, at the Tbilisi Grand Prix
ADVERTISEMENTDay one of the Tbilisi Grand Prix here in Georgia saw Vazha Margvelashvili become man of the day.
He was superb all day long and after a sublime ouchi-gari he used an armlock to score ippon in his first contest.
Next up was a brilliant counter against Israel's Yarin Menaged before he came up against last year's gold medallist Lasha Giunashvili at the semi-finals stage. This massive pickup followed by a counter attack for a second waza-ari put him into the final.
His opponent there would be Daniel Cargnin and a close contest would be decided by penaties. Margvelashvili was crowned champion thrilling the home crowd.
"It gives me more motivation when I know that my father and the rest of my family are here watching, said the Georgian. "It gives me that extra push and I want to say thank you to all the people that came to support me today."
Germany's Theresa Stoll was our woman of the day. She showed consumate groundwork skill throughout her preliminary matches securing two hold downs enroute to an ultimate final showdown against top seed Helene Receveaux of France.
There a do or die moment of judo that saw Stoll throw Receveaux with kosoto for a match winning waza-ari score. Earning herself a second World Tour gold after Dusseldorf last year.
For Stoll, winning away from home was just as sweet with less peer pressure.
''It's different because at home you have the crowd behind you and a lot of friends and family, the German said.
"Here maybe you can fight more free because you dont have so much pressure. It's different but it's great too."
Lukhumi Chkhvimiani made it two golds from two for Georgia in the male weights overcoming teamate Amiran Papinashvili with this quick counter. He was presented his medal by Mr Mikheil Giorgadze, Minister of Culture and Sport of Georgia and stood atop a podium on which all four of the medallists were Georgian.
Marusa Stangar took under 48 kilogram gold after a quick counter attack against Serbia's Milica Nikolic led to a hold down giving the Slovenian a fantastic gold medal to celebrate.
And finally Amandine Buchard showed real tenacity to power past Evelyne Tschopp. Two forceful attacks giving her two waza-ari's and the top spot at under 52 kilograms.
Our move of the day came from Georgia's Lasha Chaduneli with a spectacular hip throw against Azerbaijan's Oruj Valizada.