Ahead of Visan stood Astemir Abazov (IJF), another judoka who has not fought in a WJT final before. Abazov had proven to be one of the biggest throwers of the day in Qingdao and as the final progressed, he proved it again, throwing Visan for ippon with a massive harai-makikomi. Both men had exceeded their previous records and so the World Judo Tour had a new podium line-up.
Gergely Nerpel (HUN) was keen to earn his first World Judo Tour medal but would have to get past Pawel Drzymal (POL) to do it. Several times he came close to scoring in their well-matched bronze medal contest, a yuko even appearing ten seconds before the end of normal time which, after review, was removed.
Going into golden score pushed both men to attack more, producing a flurry of to-and-fro exchanges. Attacks and counters came from both sides until, after 3 extra minutes, Drzymal tried an o-uchi-gari but it was countered for ippon with ko-soto-gake. The score was ippon and an ecstatic Hungarian judoka jumped in the air in receipt of it. Gergely Nerpel achieved his goal!
The second bronze medal contest featured Hebilige Bu (CHN) and Peter Safrany (HUN), the latter wanting to mirror his teammate’s win in the previous contest. Safrany has been European u23 champion and has a gold from the Zagreb Grand Prix last year. But fighting against Bu on his home turf was not going to be easy even if his CV suggested success.
Bu has been on the World Judo Tour for 8 years but this is his first final block appearance and having the chance to win a ,medal at home was a major driver for him in this tense bout. His previous personal best was a 7th place at the 2017 Hohhot Grand Prix, also in China. He was already at least one step better before this final block and so could be proud of his effort.
Peter Safrany found the first minutes of the contest taxing, a physical battle that was difficult to break open but he did it, albeit in golden score. A combination of o-soto-gari and nidan-ko-soto-gake offered him the score and the medal; a satisfactory end to a good day of judo from the Hungarian.
Final (-90 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-90 kg)
