Balabay Aghayev of Azerbaijan may have arrived in pole position but in his quarter was the current Olympic champion Yeldos Smetov of Kazakhstan; nothing could be taken for granted. It took a great deal of composure and focus to do what he set out to do but he reached the final and looked set to walk away in the same position that he began in at the Abu Dhabi Judo Grand Slam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World number three Balabay Aghayev was in outstanding form from his first contest of the day. Competing against a dynamic adversary could have been off-putting but Aghayev was ready for anything, more than prepared. It took him just over a minute to earn the \u2018ippon\u2019 call needed to take the gold, throwing Kudbudinov with a seoi-otoshi at the speed of light!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the final, Balabay Aghayev said, \u201cThis gold medal, well, I still can’t quite believe it. I worked very hard for this and I had a feeling I could achieve a good result. Of course, there were some mistakes that we will work on to get even better but today I am very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iago Abuladze is known for explosive, creative judo and an unwavering commitment top the win. Reaching the men’s -66kg final in Abu Dhabi may not have been a big surprise for him. However, his opponent there was a surprise for many. Sukhrob Boqiev of Bahrain had a brilliant preliminary session, passing Ukrainian and French opponents before defeating the number one seed in their quarter-final. The semi-final win seemed almost natural and he took his place in the gold medal contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An acrobatic display of judo and athletic ability characterised this final, both athletes able to escape from the most certain-looking attacks. Boqiev made one attack stick at the 60-second mark, a huge hip throw from which Abuladze spun on to his side to reduce a potential ippon to just a yuko.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abuladze then unleashed a barrage of entries, all opposed perfectly by Boqiev. Right up to the gong, there was no telling if the equaliser would come but in the end it did not. Boqiev delivered a thrilling performance in Abu Dhabi to earn his first grand slam medal, a truly stylish win!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the final Boqiev spoke emphatically, \u201cI want to say thank you to everyone who supported and cheered for me. This is my first grand slam medal and straight away it\u2019s my first gold; I am very glad for that! I was ranked outside the top 200 today, so how special it is to come here and show I am so much better than that!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Merve Azak of Turkiye had an outstanding day at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam. The 23-year-old has never won a medal on the world Judo Tour and she went through the draw surprising herself as much as the opposition, among them Olympic and world medallist Tara Babulfath of Sweden. Konul Aliyeva was equally dominant on the other side of the draw, setting up an interesting and unpredictable women’s -48kg final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Merve Azak came on to the tatami ready to launch the first attack of the contest and she did exactly as she planned. There was no score but Aliyeva was made to feel the pressure immediately. Her response was clear and impressive; three scores coming fast, all in tachi-waza, a waza-ari and two yuko scores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Konul Aliyeva held her ground until the end of the contest and jumped into her coach\u2019s arms. This is an historic gold medal for Azerbaijan, a first ever World Judo Tour gold for their women\u2019s programme. Merve Azak\u2019s silver medal is also her first grand slam p[osium finish. Both judoka delivered stellar work in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the final, Konul Aliyeva said, \u201cIt’s the first time I have become a champion. It’s my first grand slam title and I’m very happy. I will do my best to deliver gold in my next competitions too. It’s very important to keep momentum because of Olympic qualification. I am also aiming to be in a top ranking position for the Olympic Games.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Amandine Buchard and Diyora Keldiyorova in the women’s -52kg category, anyone could have been forgiven for guessing that only the two bronze medals remained to be claimed. However, it did not work out that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keldiyorova is just making her way back to international competition and on this occasion did not reach the final block. Buchard did but the field looked more open than many may have thought at first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amandine Buchard arrived searching for gold and came very close indeed. Unseeded, despite her incredible catalogue of accolades, she came through the draw with the perfect mix of positivity, strategy and skill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the final though, Tihea Topolovec was unwilling to revise her opponent\u2019s CV and simply got to work. Inside the last minute, in an otherwise even contest, Topolovec found space for an uchi-mata that earned her a waza-ari. The French champion had no time to build a winning situation from such a deficit and had to accept the silver medal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tihea Topolovec delivered an exceptional day of judo to win her first ever grand slam medal, a gold, no less. From 65th place on the ranking, this is a spectacular result and one she was extremely happy with, \u201cWinning my first-ever grand slam medal as a gold is an incredible feeling and I am very excited for the future. After moving down from -57 kg to 52 kg, I proved I can compete and win against the best. Abu Dhabi has always been a great city to visit and leaving with a medal makes it one of my favourites.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Timna Nelson-Levy was the women’s -57kg top seed of the day but 2024 world champion Mimi Huh (KOR) dashed her hopes of a medal and made her own way to the final block instead, but not heading towards gold. It was the third and fourth seeds who climbed their way on to the top two steps of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam podium, passing all others on their way to the final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shirlen Nascimento is always solid and dependable. Not every contest goes her way but she always gives her best and can be relied upon to leave everything she has on the tatami. Martha Fawaz has a similar attitude, never giving up, no matter how challenging a task may be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nascimento opened the scoring with a kata-guruma that was very close to ippon. Not long later, an osoto-gari from Fawaz levelled the playing field. Neither slipped off the pace but it was ultimately Martha Fawaz who concluded the contest. She reached for an o-uchi-gari and knocked her Brazilian opponent backwards for a second waza-ari.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Martha Fawaz spoke after her golden performance, \u201cAfter a long period of convalescence from a major injury that kept me away from the tatami, winning my second grand slam medal is pure happiness. Just a year ago, I didn’t even know if I could continue with judo. In the final, my strategy was to be impactful where I am strongest and lead the fight as well as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Balabay Aghayev of Azerbaijan may have arrived in pole position but in his quarter was the current Olympic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[106],"class_list":["post-17220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-judo"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t