The first score of this all-action final came from Petru Pelivan who chased Ihanamaki and forced the right position for a small ashi-waza to score a yuko. Front that point on he made it difficult for the Finnish judoka to get close to him.
Pelivan defended vehemently, earning himself two penalties but with the clock on his side he was able to hold his lead and cross the line in first place. Both judoka gave great performances in Abu Dhabi and can be proud of a good day’s work.
“I feel fulfilled,” said Pelivan, “Because this is my first gold medal at an IJF tournament. I don't even know what was different today. Perhaps how I prepared, how I motivated myself for these fights was a bit different compared to other competitions. After the final though, I won’t celebrate too much because this is not the real goal that I desire.”
Bronze medal contest: Abdul-Kerim Tasuev (RUS) vs Dimitri Gochiladze (GEO)
Dimitri Gochiladze almost made it look easy to win a grand slam medal. Calm, committed and fully focused, he scored a waza-ari with a counter in the first 30 seconds and less that a minute later turned in for his own direct attack to score again. Gochiladze had the medal and the Olympic ranking points he aimed for in this final block; an impressive performance.
Bronze medal contest: Zhalgas Kairolla (KAZ) vs Igor Tsurkan (SLO)
From the beginning of this grand slam medal contest, Igor Tsurkan looked destined to win. Yes, of course, we cannot write a result before it has been secured, but the young Slovenian arrived with confidence and composure and looked in charge of the fight throughout.
Tsurkan scored a first waza-ari with a seoi-otoshi, his opponent falling off the wrong side but still into a position which deserved the score. Not satisfied with such a lead, he then countered Kairolla’s own seoi-otoshi attempt to ensure the question was answered completely. This is Igor Tsurkan’s first grand slam medal, from a very strong performance indeed.
Final (-81 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-81 kg)
Final Results (-81 kg)
