Final: Radu Izvoreanu (MDA) vs Denis Vieru (MDA)
Radu Izvoreanu has a single grand prix medal to his name, compared with the Olympic and world medals of former world number 1 Denis Vieru. This should have been a one-way street but it was not!
Judo is unforgiving of the tiniest mistakes and in Lima Vieru made a costly one in the final: he stood up immediately after his own seoi-otoshi attack failed. Izvoreanu punished him in the biggest way by clamping his grip down Vieru’s back and launching him with a huge tsuri-goshi. It was a resounding ippon that assigned the gold medal to the underdog of this final.
After the final, Izvoreanu was happy to say, “I’m very proud to win my first World Judo Tour gold. I woke up with a great mindset today and really visualised this moment. Fighting my compatriot Denis Vieru was an honour. He’s a legend in Moldova for winning our first Olympic medal. I didn’t plan that final throw; we know each other's styles, so I just felt it in the moment.”
Bronze medal contest: Ronald Lima (BRA) vs Jonathan Benavides (ECU)
This was a great contest, active and positive judo coming from both athletes. We hardly noticed the clock ticking down and when the golden score period arrived we were happy to witness more of this match-up.
After 4 and a half minutes of extra time, Benavides was ahead by two penalties to one, looking fitter and more offensive than his counterpart. Lima struggled to complete his attacks and looked set to receive a third shido but a moment of inspiration produced an uchi-mata for him instead which was as close as a technique can be to scoring. A video review confirmed there was no score and so they continued.
A minute and a half after his scare, Benavides countered another uchi-mata attempt and made sure the score was his and would stick. It was a waza-ari and a hard-fought bronze medal for the Ecuadorian athlete, the second grand prix medal of his young career.
Bronze medal contest: Miguel Nery Gago (POR) vs Franco Baltazar (PER)
Baltazar was as determined in his final block contest as he had been throughout the morning session. Spurred on by the spectators, he gripped Nery gage’s sleeves perfectly to prevent him from executing his favourite attacks. The Peruvian’s gripping and relentless style proved to be a major challenge for the Portuguese judoka and he picked up his first shido just inside the third minute. On the gong, that was all that was on the scoreboard.
As the period of extra time began, Miguel Nery Gago changed course and attacked with a fast ko-uchi-gari that contradicted the rhythm of the contest. It was rewarded with a yuko score and that in turn meant the bronze medal would not be staying in Peru. This is Miguel Nery Gago’s first medal from fourteen World Judo Tour events.
Final (-66 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-66 kg)
Final Results (-66 kg)
