Seeded in pool B, he overcame Grzegorz Teresiński (POL) first with a waza-ari scored just before the end of the contest. He then continued his run with a clean ippon victory over Giannis Antoniou (CYP) with sumi-gaeshi. In the semi-final, he faced top seed Jur Spijkers (NED) and rose to the challenge, much to the delight of the home crowd.
His opponent in the final was Germany’s Losseni Kone (GER), who had shown consistency throughout the day. He opened with a yuko win against Georgia’s Saba Kardava, then edged past Kanan Nasibov (AZE), again scoring a yuko. Next, he overcame Jakub Sordyl (POL), once more by a yuko, to reach the semi-finals, where he defeated Artem Zolotukhin (IJF) by scoring twice to secure his place in the final.
For the final contest of the day, and of the tournament, expectations were high, with the heavyweights known for their explosive judo. The opening exchanges were tactical but a decisive moment was building. It came in spectacular fashion, as Irakli Demetrashvili unleashed a powerful uchi-mata that sent his opponent crashing to the tatami, igniting celebrations in the arena. Georgia closed its grand slam with gold.
In the first bronze medal contest, Saba Inaneishvili (GEO) faced Artem Zolotukhin (IJF). Despite taking an early lead with a waza-ari, Inaneishvili was pushed throughout the contest and had to withstand sustained pressure before securing victory and adding another medal to Georgia’s roll.
In the second bronze medal contest, Dzhamel Gamzatkhanov (AZE) faced Jur Spijkers (NED), with the Dutch judoka claiming the medal after a tactical contest.
Final (+100 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (+100 kg)
