Gvinishvili Shows the Best Fighting Spirit / IJF.org

They rallied Shido after Shido, but for minor infractions that didn’t slow them down or affect their tactics. From koshi-guruma to osoto-gari, from kata-guruma to ura-nage, it was interesting and followed the spirit of judo without any faltering. Referee Ofer Ben Zvi (Israel) allowed an open game that was repaid in the end when Gantulga countered an attack from the Cuban and turned to throw for ippon.

The second fight for the bronze medal was tough! Macedo almost caught Mehdiyev early on with a natural kata guruma and when he missed, he immediately went back on the offensive with a seoi nage attempt. The Azerbaijani had to catch up but got caught up in a gripping scramble that earned both a shido.

Midway through the match, Mehdiyev Hagen tried to apply more pressure, attacking with ko-soto-gake and shortly after throwing to ippon with a beautifully timed ashi-guruma. Macedo seemed destined for bronze but Mehdiyev had other ideas!

Beka Gvinishvili decided the final would be played on his terms and he grabbed dominantly but to his great disappointment he was penalized for the pull down as the rules dictate it if technique is not used. He responded by grabbing hard again and going straight for the ashi-waza, controlling Toth’s balance and scoring waza-ari; it was beautifully done.

Beka’s powerful approach continues in the same vein with intent to throw again, and he did! It was an excellent finale bathed in fighting spirit. Gold went to Georgia and the Hungarian had to settle for silver.