In the final, Vieru was perhaps a little reserved and it nearly cost him the title in normal time. Knowing that an opponent is dangerous and can counter like a boss can offer a conundrum: do you hold back to not be countered and bide your time for the perfect strategic win or do you go for the big throw knowing that engaging fully can bring both the instant win or the instant loss?
All of these thoughts were demonstrated by the two judoka; Vieru came closer to throwing with a big uchi-mata just before the bell, for example, but Nutfulloev came close to countering in the same moment.
In the end, Vieru’s hesitation, the strategic plan of patience failed to do the job. After 8 minutes of contest time, Nutfulloev won on penalties. Vieru had to settle for silver. This is the Uzbek’s first gold on the World Judo Tour and he earned it against one of the world’s best -66 kg competitors!
The first bronze medal contest was an all-Korean affair, Jihyuk Yang and Channyeog Kim having a great morning session. The former is appearing in his first grand slam final block while Kim is not, although his last was a bronze medal contest in Paris in 2017; they are at opposite ends of their careers.
It was a faced-paced fight, both judoka attacking throughout but it took 5 and a half minutes for a score to appear and it was an ippon for Yang who countered a pick-up attempt from Kim, with an unorthodox o-uchi-gari. Yang had his first grand slam medal and was over-the-moon about it.
Erkhembayar Battogtokh gave the spectators in the Steppe Arena something to cheer about, coming into the arena with only the podium on his mind. He gripped up against Bauyrzhan Narbayev (KAZ) and from the very beginning he seemed unstoppable. After 90 seconds he flew underneath his opponent with a seoi-otoshi and drove him off the wrong side for ippon. He wanted the gold at home but the bronze had been won well and the spectators delighted.
Final (-66 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-66 kg)
