The crowd inside the Humo arena were ready for action, and the packed out stadium got exactly what they wanted.
ADVERTISEMENTBefore the third and final day of the 2024 Tashkent Judo Grand Slam, Naser AL TAMIMI IJF General Treasurer and Ismoil Mahmadzoir President of the Tajikistan Judo Federation, signed an historic deal for Tajikistan to host this year’s junior world championships.
At -100kg, home favourite Muzaffarbek TUROBOYEV faced off against Matvey KANIKOVSKIY with the whole country behind him!
And he used his seemingly unstoppable trademark technique in the very first exchange of the match to score ippon!
The triumph was met by rapturous applause as the whole stadium beamed with national pride.
He was awarded his medal by Azizjon KAMILOV, Uzbekistan Judo Federation President.
“I really appreciate the support from my country, my family and coaches and I think it was the reason I won today.” said Turoboyev. “For athletes, you can always win and lose but thank god everything worked out today. I’ve won 2 gold medals in the Humo Arena, in big tournaments, this makes me really happy.”
At -78kg Rika TAKAYAMA took on Fanny Estelle POSVITE. It was Takayama who took the win in spectacular fashion!
She was awarded her medal by Vlad MARINESCU Director General of the IJF
“The crowd here in Tashkent were doing some great cheering with musical instruments.” said Takayama. I wasn’t sure if they were cheering for me or not, but it sure did motivate me.”
At -90kg Bulgarian Ivaylo IVANOV took on Theodoros TSELIDIS of Greece in a thrilling encounter! But it was TSELIDIS who managed to score two waza-aris to take the win!
Oybek KASIMOV General Secretary of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan was on hand to award the medals.
At +78kg Xin SU took the win. First throwing, then pinning Ruri TAKAHASHI of Japan.
The medals were awarded by Ki-Young JEON Head Referee Director of the International Judo Federation.
At +100kg Hyoga OTA bested Tamerlan BASHAEV. The Japanese athlete scoring waza-ari deep into golden score!
The medals were awarded by Naser AL TAMIMI General Treasurer of the IJF.
The powerful Local Uzbek fighters made sure it was raining ippons on the tatami as supporters watched in awe.
The highlight was Davlat Bobonov taking a fantastic bronze medal with one of the best throws of the tournament!
Next week we’re in Linz! We’ll see you there!