Jakhongir Mamatrakhimov makes Uzbekistan proud with powerful gold

Jakhongir Mamatrakhimov of Uzbekistan grabbed the junior world title for his country. The Asian junior champion, was shaping up to be a choice opponent for Hungaria’s Peter Safrany who was the heavy favourite in the competition. Safrany had already made an impression last year in Olbia by winning gold in a very good way. After a morning marked by victories, he entered the final once again. Even if he is still a little tender to perform among the seniors, where one or more years may be necessary for him to develop, he is undeniably one of the best juniors of his generation.

Jakhongir Mamatrakhimov  has an amazing thrower, who catapulted Safrany in the air, with a huge koshi-waza. Safrany landed largely on his back. There was no doubt about the perfect conclusion to Mamatrakhimov’s day.

As we know, the heavier categories are often the favourite playground of Georgian athletes. Tornike Poladishvili (GEO) therefore still had a chance to play and win against Alex Cret (ROU) for a place on the podium. Alex Cret did not offer a single chance to his opponent to win though and after a first waza-ari, he concluded in ne-waza with an immobilisation for ippon.

For the second bronze medal contest, it was Miljan Radulj (SRB) and Aleksa Mitrovic (FRA) who battled it out for their moment of glory. The first score came from the French side, with a counterattack from Mitrovic for waza-ari, showing that he was getting more and more confident as the match unfolded. After this first score nothing special happened and Mitrovic could enjoy his bronze medal, the second for the French delegation on day three.