Joan-Benjamin Gaba won France’s first male title for 12 years, on the 50th anniversary of the country’s first ever world gold medal, won by Jean-Luc Rougé in Vienna in 1975. With world champion Nils Stump (SUI), 2012 Olympic champion Lasha Shadvastuashvili (GEO) and current world, Olympic and European champion Hidayat Heydarov (AZE) in the group, not all predications featured the Frenchman but he fought with such courage and commitment that he became the unbeatable judoka on the day.
In the women’s category, it was Eteri Liparteliani who came through another stacked group. World and Olympic medallists from Korea, France and Japan came knocking but Liparteliani had that gold medal locked up tightly, making Georgian judo history as the first women ever to win a world medal, let alone a title.
The day was already outstanding but the Hungarian Judo Association topped it off by recognising several of their past champion in a special awards ceremony that took place just ahead of the final block. Éva Csernoviczki, Anett Mészáros, Hedvig Karakas, Abigél Erdélyi-Joó, Bernadett Baczkó, Dániel Hadfi, László Csoknyai, Miklós Cirjenics, Barna Bor, Szabolcs Krizsán and Tamás Madarász were brought to the stage in front of an appreciate audience who clapped, whistled and cheered for them.
