It was a clean final with high quality attacks, even though neither competitor could register a score. In the end, Sanshiro Murao won on penalties and could finally call himself a world champion.
After the final, Sanshiro Murao said, "My dream was to become world champion, since I started judo, as a kid, and I can't believe it's real right now. Nobody does it alone. I'm so grateful for my team, my coaches and everybody who supported me. This is just the beginning towards the Olympic Games and I'll take it step by step."
The first bronze medal contest featured Klen Kristofer Kaljulaid of Estonia and Eljan Hajiyev of Azerbaijan, a physical showdown in which neither had the edge, at least not for the first two minutes. At the halfway point though, Hajiyev countered for a yuko, putting the Estonian under pressure. In the end that was the only score of the contest. Hajiyev had his first world medal and Kaljulaid, who had a great day prior to the final block, was unable to reach the podium.
The second bronze medal contest was fought between Kenny Komi Bedel (ITA) who had seen off the double Olympic champion of the category in the morning session, and Bekauri’s teammate, also a world champion, Luka Maisuradze. Bedel’s route through the day could not have been much tougher but he has brought his A-game to Budapest and is rising to the challenge of such an event.
Ninety seconds into the contest an attack from Bedel gave Maisuradze a chance to counter and put his first score on the board. Another attack from the Italian with a minute to go was treated the same way. The Georgian threw for ippon with o-uchi-gaeshi to be the only Georgian on the podium on day 5 of the event. Bedel had a fantastic day and looks set for some bigger results in the future.
Final (-90 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-90 kg)
Final Results (-90 kg)
