In Astana, Tynbayeva moved through the group with an impressive commitment to the objective. She never gave up, never slowed the pace and never lost sight of the next available attack. Her semi-final against world silver medallist and Masters champion Shirine Boukli should have been a step too far but the crowd boosted her charge and with 9 seconds lift on the clock in an otherwise tight contest, the Kazakh scored waza-ari with a low, stunningly well timed ko-soto-gake. It was too much for Boukli to come back from and so Tynbayeva walked into the final with a jubilant crowd in her armoury.
In the final, the deafening cheers brought a renewed energy to the tatami, an arena full of pride. Galbadrakh was the last woman to win a grand slam for the host nation, in Abu Dhabi in 2016, but no Kazakh woman had ever won gold at home.
Tynbayeva has all the elements needed to be a world class -48 kg fighter, from speed and agility to analytical skills and a powerful throwing ability but what she also demonstrated in Astana was the ability to change the rhythm, cutting out all unnecessary steps to disturb the feeling for her opponent. In the final, Giliazova was in the process of preparing to attack when Tynbayeva moved in, unexpectedly fast, outside the normal rhythm of the contest, applying tani-otoshi for waza-ari. She did it twice and secured a first gold medal for Kazakhstan at this year’s grand slam, a first ever women’s gold at home and the first grand slam gold for a Kazakh woman for 8 years.
Galiya Tynbayeva had some thoughts about the day, “I fight on the left and Boukli and Giliazova both fight right and so my usual techniques, seoi-nage and kata-guruma, which they already know about would surely be countered. I had to use techniques which they didn’t expect. I do the tani-otoshi a lot in training, in randori. If someone comes in close it’s a big chance for me."
"Fighting at home wasn’t just about home pride and winning the gold medal but also about enjoying feeling comfortable and at ease. Here I can sleep without any problem, no jet lag, no disturbances. I really like sleep! I also love Kazakh food and so I felt unstressed throughout this event. Having family, friends, food and sleep meant I had the best chance to perform well and I took that chance.”
Galiya Tynbayeva will next compete at the Abu Dhabi World Championships and it seems that she is ready. Watch her and all our World Judo Tour champions battle it out by downloading the new JudoTV app.
