Keito Kihara excels with cadet world title U73kg

Keito Kihara (JPN) didn't have an easy first contest against former world number one and current number 4 in the cadet world ranking, Mihajlo Simin (SRB). It was finely balanced and would have taken very little for the match to switch in favour of the Serb. The day therefore promised to be difficult for Kihara. However, it was with pure Japanese judo style that he passed all the following rounds without incident to reach the final, eliminating the world number one, Giorgi Mishvelidze (GEO) in the semi-finals.

It was not his last Georgian for the day, as in the final he faced Luka Javakhishvili, who was not among the favourites of the competition. At this level, however, we know that anything can happen.

It was a close match, neither of the two competitors being able to throw. It was tense, it was hard but in the end it was Keito Kihara who won the world title as Luka Javakhishvili was disqualified for applying a forbidden technique. During a counterattack, he wrapped his leg around Kihara's leg, which can be dangerous. Hansoku make was deserved as was the title for Kihara. It was a hard day in the office for him but with a beautiful conclusion.

In a particularly hotly contested category which has shown throughout the season that many athletes could claim the podium, Samariddin Muxibiddinov (UZB) and Joshua De Lange (NED) offered themselves an opportunity to climb on to the podium but De Lange never really entered the match, catapulted to the floor by a massive ura-nage. It was a bronze medal for Samariddin Muxibiddinov.

In the match for the second bronze medal we found Antonio Medeiros Neto (BRA) and Giorgi Mishvelidze (GEO) ready to earn a medal. Medeiros Neto had it, almost, as his opponent had two shido to his name and the third was synonymous with disqualification but again, in judo everything is possible. In golden score it was eventually Mishvelidze who scored ippon with a counterattack at just the right moment. The bronze medal went to Georgia.