Nurali Emomali carried the weight of the home nation on his shoulders as he arrived in the Qasri Tennis arena for his first contest of the first day of the Dushanbe Grand Slam in Tajikistan. Currently number two in the world in the men’s -64kg category, he was committed to upholding the nation’s hopes and as the rounds passed, he did exactly as planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the final he faced Uzbekistan’s Azizbek Ortikov who had delivered an excellent run of wins in the preliminary session. Ortikov wasn\u2019t ready for Emomali and the energy of the crowd though and Tajikistan\u2019s hero of the day countered for what was very nearly ippon in the first exchange. Ortikov had a second chance, just, but Emomali was not about to lose at home, not today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although each judoka racked up two penalties, making defence more complicated, Emomali managed to hold is ground, conceding no scores and protecting his own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c I believed in my judo continuously even after the first scored was changed and with the support of the fans, I knew I could not lose today. This glory tonight is for them,\u201d said Emomali.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emomali was not the only Tajik medallist on day one; Loiq Kudbudinov gave the performance of his life to win his first WJT medal, a bronze fuelled by the encouraging noise from the stands. To feel the power of a home-grown medal in Dushanbe is to feel something special and Kudbudinov felt every beat of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Russian Federation took pole position on the medal table at the end of the day, thanks to Ayub Bliev (-60 kg) and Olga Mukhina\u2019s (-57 kg) golds and the bronze medals from Abuladze, Elkina and newcomer German Kobets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bliev and Artem Lesion of Ukraine stepped on to the tatami with visible concentration. Bliev was first to his marks, catching Lesion with an instinctive ashi-waza for a yuko. He extended his lead less than a minute later with a beautiful o-uchi-gari which scored a waza-ari; very close to ippon and delivered with precision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Artem had no answer for Bliev and far from slowing down or turning his focus to defence, Bliev kept coming and threw one more time to command the end of the contest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the final, teenager Ariunzaya Terbish of Mongolia, already in possession of a single grand slam medal, faced Olga Mukhina of Russian in the women’s-57kg final. The 21-year-old Russian gave everything she had to win the gold and with a well-timed o-uchi-gari scored a yuko that made all the difference to the final result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Terbish pressured hard but only earned a single shido back and had to accept the silver medal. Mukhina\u2019s first medal on the World Judo Tour is a grand slam gold, an impressive introduction to results at this level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mongolia and Italy took the last two titles, Anudari Jamsran (-48 kg) and Odette Giuffrida (-52 kg) delivering dominant strategies, despite being at opposite ends of their careers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amber Gersjes of the Netherlands was determined to collect her first ever World Judo Tour gold, a prize she has waited a long time for. In her way was Anudari Jamsran, an ambitious teenager with the Dushanbe title to defend. This wouldn\u2019t be easy for either of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The contest went to full time with little to report; a fast-paced but uneventful bout. The only separation was a tiny catch by Jasmran inside the last minute which knocked Gersjes on to one hip for a yuko. She couldn\u2019t pull it back and so the gold was heading to Mongolia, Jamsran\u2019s second Dushanbe Grand Slam title in as many years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aleksandra Kaleta was the judoka tasked with challenging Italy\u2019s champion Giuffrida on the -52 kg and it would be a steep hill to climb. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The contest was closer than Giuffrida might have liked. It was clear that the Polish judoka had done her homework, arriving prepared to oppose the Italian champion\u2019s preferred grips and attacks. However, Giuffrida is not new to well-drilled adversaries and she calmly dominated, step by step; an understated confidence that left Kaleta collecting unhelpful penalties. Odette Giuffrida adds a sixth grand slam gold to her impressive resum\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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