The second day of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam brought about a second gold medal for United Arab Emirates, this time from Makhmadbek MAKHMADBEKOV in the -73kg category. It was a close semi final against Karen GALSTIAN (IJF) who took the first score, but in the end it was an almighty battle against good friend, Abubakr SHEROV of Tajikistan before reaching the top of the podium. Once Makhmadbekov found his ‘in’, he set up his opponent with o uchi gari, before throwing with utsuri goshi for the win.
It will be on many minds for Team France, who will be replacement for Clarisse AGBEGNENOU in the -63kg category, and after todays performance, the name Manon DEKETER is becoming prominent. Defeating the current World Champion, Joanne VAN LIESHOUT (NED) in the semi final, she moved on to Iva OBERAN of Croatia. It was an evenly fought contest, and with less than 15 seconds left on the clock, Oberan set up Deketer to throw forward, but the Frenchwoman dug deep in her reserves and threw with a huge ura nage for the Grand Slam win.
It has been a steady comeback for Margit DE VOOGD (NED) who defeated top seed, Lara CVJETKO (CRO) in the semi final, only to face team mate Hilde JAGER in the -70kg final. It was a weak attack from Jager that left her wide open and De Voogd took advantage, laying claim to the arm for juji gatame. For De Voogd this is her first gold medal on the IJF World Judo Tour.
Zelim TCKAEV (AZE) made his way through two rounds of Team Georgia, Dimitri GOCHILAIDZE in the semi final, and U23 European Champion, Zaur DVALASHVILI in the final. Finding a way in the final was looking almost impossible, but Tckaev attacked with tomoe nage, and Dvalashvili made the mistake of thinking he had killed the motion and ceased his defence. Tckaev continued to push through and scored the waza ari, much to Dvalashvili’s disbelief, a tough lesson to learn in a Grand Slam final.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen