Guram Tushishvili crowns stellar Georgian judo day

The first known final of the day in Tbilisi was that of the men's heavyweights, which featured a thrilling match between Ushangi Kokauri (AZE) and Guram Tushishvili (GEO). This final was enough to delight the public who came en masse to attend the third day of competition, between the two finalists of the 2018 world championships (Silver for Kokauri and gold for Tushishvili). A little air of revenge therefore reigned in the Olympic Sport Palace Tbilisi for the last contest of the weekend.

But we will also remember that if Tushishvili had the full support of the public, his opponent of Georgian origin was also encouraged and the noise level, like the elimination phases, looked particularly high when both judoka stepped on the tatami.

The moment the whole crowd  wanted was coming, the moment of the last contest of an unbelievable three day competition and they were expecting something special. That something came in the form or a neat seoi-otoshi, when Tushishvili just dropped under Kokauri and executed the perfect ippon. Unstoppable it was and this was just pure magic. This gold medal, number four in Tbilisi this year for the host country and gold medal number five in a grand slam for Tushishvili.

Saba Inaneishvili (GEO) provided a second chance at a medal by advancing to the first bronze medal contest against Yerassyl Kazhybayev (KAZ). It was not long before Saba Inaneishvili took the initiative and the lead with a massive soto-makikomi for a waza-ari, but only for a few seconds as the score was upgraded to ippon offering the victory to the Georgian much to the delight of the crowd.

The second contest for a bronze medal was between Marius Fizel (SVK) and world champion in 2022, Andy Granda (CUB). It was a one sided contest, with Granda dominating the debates totally and scoring a with masterpiece, a left handed tai-otoshi for ippon, the kind of movement you learn when you start judo.

Granda was defeated by Ushangi Kokauri in the semi-final. But obviously the one who made the audience explode with joy was Guram Tushishvili, whose presence and commitment were total from the start of the competition. Tushishvili earned the fifth gold medal for Georgia this competition.