Great judo was displayed throughout the second day, athletes hunting the stunning medals, ten golds on offer, in 9 categories, including the heavyweights and one further demonstration event.
J1W +70 kg:
Competition was fierce in this category. Although it was a round robin format, all the competitors understood what was at stake and they delivered their best judo. In the end it was Anastasiia Harnyk (UKR) who took the title, winning each of her 4 contests by ippon.
GOLD - Anastasiia Harnyk (UKR)
SILVER - Millena De Freitas (BRA)
BRONZE - Nazan Akin Gunes (TUR)
J1W -60 kg:
Uljon Amrieva (UZB), unseeded and not well known, was the surprise judoka in the category. Her dynamic and committed style challenged the number one seed in their semi-final and it was the Uzbek who came out on top, knocking Alsu Nasyrova (NPA) into the bronze medal contest, out of gold medal contention.
On the bottom half of the draw there was a similar situation; an unseeded Brazilian, Larissa Silva, took an ippon win over the second highest ranked athlete, Nadezhda Rak (KGZ), in the quarter-final. That could have produced a bronze medal contests between the top two but Rak didn’t make it.
Amrieva led from almost the very beginning, a yuko on the board from the second exchange, but Silva never stopped working. She almost caught an o-uchi-gaeshi, almost a ne-waza advantage, but each time, Amrieva found her escape route. With 90 seconds to go, the Uzbek converted that escapism into a secure win, holding her opponent for ippon and the title.
GOLD - Uljon Amrieva (UZB)
SILVER - Larissa Silva (BRA)
BRONZE - Merve Uslu Hajabipour (TUR)
BRONZE - Anzhela Havrysiuk (UKR)
J1W -70 kg
Brenda Souza De Freitas (BRA) followed her ranking perfectly to come through her quarter-final and semi-final to give herself the chance to be 2025 IBSA world champion. Standing in her way was Theodora Paschalidou (GRE). It was a non-stop carnival of throws with both athletes giving everything for the world title. Souza De Freitas began with a huge turn for a waza-ari but very soon after the Greek judoka equalised. Huge attacks continued to come from both but eventually the Brazilian launched an unstopped makikomi and doubled her score to ensure the gold would be hers.
GOLD - Brenda Souza De Freitas (BRA)
SILVER - Theodora Paschalidou (GRE)
BRONZE Turuunaa Lkhaijav (MGL)
BRONZE Ariagna de La Caridad Hechevarria Castro (CUB)
J1M -95 kg:
Great Britain’s Dan Powell already has European, world and Paralympic silver medals and is undoubtedly among the strongest in the category. His route to the final, as he hunts for the illusive gold, included a dominant win over the number one seed, Abylay Adilbekov, a host team favourite at this IBSA World Championship.
Powell’s opposition in the final was the number two seed, the strong Brazilian Arthur Cavalcante Da Silva. This was a repeat of the Paralympic final and Cavalcante Da Silva arrived with his gold backnumber in place. It was bound to be a tough fight for both competitors.
From the beginning, the Brazilian warned that he would chase hard in ne-waza and he did, at every opportunity, but Powell was delivering the more committed attacks in tachi-waza; either strategy could win. In fact, neither did as Powell made spcae on the floor and executed a textbook shime-waza for ippon. He jumped high in the air as he realised what he had achieved. Remarkably, the two coaches hugged immediately in a show of true respect and frienship.
GOLD - Dan Powell (GBR)
SILVER - Arthur Cavalcante Da Silva (BRA)
BRONZE - Yasin Cimciler (TUR)
BRONZE - Pavel Selivanov (NPA)
J2W -70 kg:
Double Paralympic champion Alana Maldonado (BRA) was the target for all other athletes in the category. She’s cultivated an impressive record and in Astana reached yet another final. Ayala Mereke (KAZ) would have her work cut out but with the crowd behind her anything was possible.
Mereke did all she could but Maldonado is just too good. She's strong, technical, can work on the ground or standing and she's confident with everything she does. Mereke pushed her hard but a yuko from a throw and then a waza-ari on the ground were enough for the Braziian to take a new title.
GOLD - Alana Maldonado (BRA)
SILVER - Ayala Mereke (KAZ)
BRONZE - Atsumi Nishimura (JPN)
BRONZE - Kazusa Ogawa (JPN)
J2M -95 kg:
Both top seeds hailed from Georgia and were looking forward to their derby in the final but it wasn’t to be. Zviad Gogotchuri made it but his team mate, Lasha Kizilashvili, did not, losing his quarter-final to Davurkhon Karomatov (UZB) who went on to reach the final. Georgia did take the gold though despite Kizilashvili's absence in the final, a win on penalties.
GOLD - Zviad Gogotchuri (GEO)
SILVER - Davurkhon Karomatov (UZB)
BRONZE - Lasha Kizilashvili (GEO)
BRONZE - Daniel Goral (GER)
J2W +70 kg:
Brazil’s Meg Emmerich overcame the number one seed to reach a final where team mate Rebeca Silva would also be, having upheld her ranking as the number two seed. An all-one-country final is always precarious for the athletes involved but the Brazilian team can be satisfied with their team today. Silva, the current Paralympic champion, actually made light work of the final, holding her compatriot for ippon before the halfway mark.
GOLD - Rebeca Silva (BRA)
SILVER - Meg Emmerich (BRA)
BRONZE - Sheyla Samarian Hernandez Estupinan (CUB)
BRONZE - Mokhinur Parmonova (UZB)
J1M +95 kg:
Ion Basoc (MDA) became Moldova’s only finalist of the competition when he upset the rankings to beat Yerlan Utepov (KAZ) in the semi-final. The Moldovan, unseeded in this category but a Paralympic silver medallist, then faced the very experienced Brazilian, Wilians De Araujo. De Araujo arrived with his gold backnumber on display and all the way to the final he looked every bit the champion.
In the final, De Araujo led very quickly with two great yuko scores on the board, both in tachi-waza, but Basoc then launched a huge uchi-mata which scored waza-ari. No sooner had the dust settled from that exchange, De Araujo also threw again but this time he made sure the victory was his, earning himself the all-important ippon.
GOLD - Wilians De Araujo (BRA)
SILVER - Ion Basoc (MDA)
BRONZE - Baglanbek Onalbek (KAZ)
BRONZE - Yerlan Utepov (KAZ)
J2M +95 kg:
More surprises arose in the heavyweight J2 category as an unseeded Turkish judoka, Ibrahim Bolukbasi, ploughed through the group taking out both the fourth and first seeds on his way to the final. There he met Zhurkamyrza Shukurbekov (KAZ) who’d had a tough morning but with the desired outcome. The home crown were fully behind their athlete all day and in the final they applauded loudly. Shukurbekov threw with a combination of sasae-tsuri-komi-ashi, ko-uchi-gari and finally a seoi-otoshi for ippon.
GOLD - Zhurkamyrza Shukurbekov (KAZ)
SILVER - Ibrahim Bolukbasi (TUR)
BRONZE - Revaz Chikoidze (GEO)
BRONZE - Felipe Amorim De Souza (BRA)
Demonstration Event
J2M -64 kg:
This busy group was something of an unknown quantity as it was a new weight category but it produced some of the most dynamic judo of the day. In the final Sherzod Namozov (UZB) and his team mate Kemran Nurillaev (UZB) met to fight for gold. It was an exciting encounter with 2024 IBSA world champion Nurillaev taking an early lead by two yuko scores but Paris Paralympic champion Namozov stepped up the pressure and managed to counter for a waza-ari. Nurillaev was too fast though, his red back patch on display too. He spun underneath his team mate with an impressive tomoe-nage to throw for ippon and ensure both men would retain their retained their special backnumbers.
GOLD - Kemran Nurillaev (UZB)
SILVER - Sherzod Namozov (UZB)
BRONZE - Ishak Ouldkouider (ALG)
BRONZE - Zurab Zurabiani (GEO)
All photos courtesy of Arlan Olzhabay, Kazakhstan Para Judo Federation.