Sone Akira seals Tokyo 2020 spot with Osaka Grand Slam win
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**Excitement at the Osaka Grand Slam on its third and final day. **
Georgian powerhouse Beka Gviniashvili was Man of the Day, after a thrilling contest against Uzbekistan’s Davlat Bobonov. The Uzbek pulled ahead, scoring waza-ari, but Gviniashvili evened up. The drama continued, with Bobonov thinking he had scored again, but the Georgian kept his head, and mustered the energy for an emphatic i ppon, winning him his first Grand Slam since 2016.
Gviniashvili received his medal from** Mr Armen Bagdasarov, Sport Director of the International Judo Federation.**
“Of course I’m happy because this is the first time I’ve won a Grand Slam in Japan," Gviniashvili said after the match. "This is a major event and a very difficult tournament for me. I lost at the Tokyo World Championships, so I wanted to make a comeback. I’m very happy because I did it, the final result is excellent, I am Osaka Grand Slam Champion”
Sone wins gold - and a spot for Tokyo 2020
Japan's Akira Sone sealed her spot at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with a win against Idalys Ortiz of Cuba in the +78kg final. The reigning World Champion defeated the former Olympic Champion with an attack deep into Golden Score.
Ouchi Gari, an inner reaping technique, classical Judo, and winning her a place at the Tokyo Olympics.
Mr. Sato Nobuyuki, honorary member of the IJF awarded Sone her medal.
“Ortiz is a very very strong Judoka," Sone said, "I just made sure that I always took the lead, I was always a step forward. I wanted to do an attack, and I made sure that I was able to do it, and so I was able to win.”
Moment of Sportsmanship
At -100kg former World Champion Ryunosuke Haga was here to prove a point, and that he did, against one of the toughest fighters in the category – a spectacular uchi-mata scored waza-ari before a beautiful moment of sportsmanship with Olympic Silver Medallist Elmar Gasimov, as Gasimov congratulated his opponent with a warm hug.
Haga received his medal from **Dr Lisa Allan, Competition Manager of the IJF.
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The -78kg category saw yet another all Japan final. After going a waza-ari down Mami Umeki countered her compatriot to score Ippon and take her one step closer to the Tokyo Olympics.
At +100kg Hyoga Ota of Japan took on Russia's Inal Tasoev whoscored waza-ari against Ota, and held out to take his second Grand Slam title.
Move of the Day
Our move of the day came from 2015 World Champion Gwak Donghan, executing a simply magical tai otoshi attack on Shochiro Mukai, devastating Japan’s World Silver Medallist with a perfect bit of Judo. A fantastic way to wrap up the last Grand Slam of the year.