Temur Nozadze wins georgian lightweight final in Tbilisi

There were four Georgians fighting U60kg at the Grand Slam in Tbilisi, obviously the privilege of the organising country. As the locals have a lot of depth on the bench, especially in the light categories, they did not disappoint. Three of the four Georgian judoka reached the semi-finals and the stone guest, Rovshan Aliyev (AZE), made the mistake of letting his guard down and was eliminated by Temur Nozadze nine seconds from golden score.

It must be said that Nozadze had a day to frame by eliminating the Italian Petrosino and especially the Japanese, Koga, in a spectacular match. Nozadze's rival came out of the semi-final between Lukhumi Chkhvimiani and Giorgi Sardalashvili and here too there was good judo and drama. Sardalashvili parried a Chkhvimiani offensive and counterattacked, scoring the winning waza-ari. The drama was because if we analyse the reaction of Chkhvimiani, who was completely overwhelmed and unable to control his tears, it is possible that Sardalashvili won his ticket to the world championship. It's too early to say, but it's not a far-fetched theory. With gold secured, it remained to be seen which of the two, Nozadze or Sardalashvili, would be the better this year.

It was an explosive fight. Sardashvili skimmed the ippon, Nozadze multiplied the attacks and Sardashvili responded in the same way. There was no defensive tactic anywhere to be seen. Golden score was inevitable. Neither gave in; to win you have to raise the level even more. It was a combat delight, without sparing an atom of energy. Nozadze was the victor after surprising Sardashvili; ippon and gold for one and a tribute from the public for both warriors. Azerbaijan obtained a bronze thanks to a match between compatriots. Turam Baynarov took 27 seconds to score a first waza-ari and a minute to score another; ippon and medal.

Koga (JPN) and Chkhvimiani (GEO) battled it out for bronze. The Japanese scratched a notch in the Georgian book with an ippon that silenced the Georgian public for a moment, but who ended up applauding because they are passionate but fair.