Qingdao Grand Prix 2015 - China DAY 1

Fecha de publicación:

20 November 2015

Imagen principal:

A total number of 125 athletes (60 men and 65 women) delivered their best judo throughout the preliminaries and the final block in front of a public which became more and more numerous and passionate as long as the competition day was running.

The official opening ceremony of the event took place prior to the final block. After a colorful artistic traditional show, the public and all participants were invited to observe a minute of silence in the memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks that recently hit Paris.

Then all delegations, officials, and the public were welcomed by the Vice-Mayor of Qingdao, Ms. Luan Xin: “As one of the Olympic sports, judo has a great mass foundation in Qingdao and is deeply loved by the people of Qingdao. Our city has fostered many world champions and Olympic medallists, like Liu Xia, Li Shufang, Yu Song… 15 international judo events have been consecutively held in Qingdao, which has had a profound influence on the promotion and development of judo in the city and poured a new vigour for the development of sports in the region. As one of the qualification events for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, the Qingdao Grand Prix has attracted judoka from all over the world and thus made the competition more spectacular and attractive. We will do our best to promote the development of judo, as well as to contribute to the international sports exchanges and culture development. I wish to all the participants good luck.“

Mr. Xiong Fengsjhan, Vice President of the Chinese Judo Association and executive member of the Judo Union of Asia declared: “Respected President of the International Judo Federation, Mr. Vizer, Distinguished IJF Executive Committee (EC) members and guests, dear IJF staff, referees, dear team officials and athletes. Good afternoon. With the great support of the IJF, JUA and world judo family, the Qingdao Judo Grand Prix has become a professional event. On behalf of Mr. Zhou jinqiang, President of the Chinese Judo Association, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Marius Vizer, President of the IJF and the organisation itself for the support and trust in us to organise this Qingdao Grand Prix. On behalf of the Chinese Judo Association, I would like to express my warmest welcome to all the participating IJF EC members, guests, IJF staff, referees, technical officials from all over the world. For the past few years, this Grand Prix has gained great help from the Qingdao municipal government, Shandong Provincial Sports Bureau and Qingdao sports fans.

Then Mr. Marius Vizer, the IJF President took to floor to conclude the opening ceremony: “Dear Vice-Mayor of the city of Qingdao, dear representatives of the government of Qingdao and its region, dear members of the Qingdao Sports Bureau, dear athletes, officials, spectators, sponsors and media, on behalf of the IJF, I want to express our thanks towards all the organisers of this event. Thank you for your efforts, friendship and hospitality. I wish to all the athletes a lot of success during the event and during the upcoming IJF World Judo Tour events and I now declare the 2015 Qingdao Grand Prix open.“

After the opening and just before the start of final block, Mr. Vizer presented the Jigoro Kano statue to the representative of the Qingdao municipality and received in exchange a commemorative plate. A very constructive discussion between the Qingdao municipality, the Chinese Judo Association (CJA) and the IJF President followed, where the educational dimension of judo was emphasized. The CJA thanked Mr. Vizer for his constant support towards the promotion of judo in China. “Thanks to the IJF, this year’s educational journey held in September was a total success and we are planning on organising many other events where the judo values can be promoted throughout the population. We are following your advice and we are now developing a program at school and we are also working with the police and armed forces. We also hope that on the occasion of the upcoming Olympic Games, we’ll be able to harvest some gold medals.“

Mr. Vizer replied: “To focus on the youngsters and especially on the schools is very important. I am pleased to see the development of judo in the country, which is the result of many efforts.”

Tomorrow the women’s -63kg and 70kg and the men’s -73kg and -81kg will be on action.

WOMEN

-48kg: Junior World Champion Eliminates the Current World Number One

The top seeded athlete of the category, MUNKHBAT Urantsetseg (MGL) who was the favourite of the competition, was beaten by a Japanese newcomer to the IJF World Judo Tour.

In fact, MUNKHBAT’s way to the final was not straight forward and she had to show her best judo to surpass Dayaris MESTRE ALVAREZ (CUB), JON Yu Sun (PRK) and JEONG Bo Kyeong (KOR), who she defeated only during the golden score in their semi-final. In the second part of the draw, TONAKI Funa (JPN), who was not among the top seeded athletes, but who is the current junior world champion (Abu Dhabi 2015), showed that even as a newcomer, she is already one of the most exciting judoka in the category. The young athlete confirmed her new position as she was able to score a waza-ari, with a ko-soto-gari. She doubled the score with a ko-uchi-gari, almost in the last second, to win her first medal on the senior international circuit.

The first bronze medal fight opposed Ebru SAHIN (TUR) and Nataliya KONDRATYEVA (RUS). After two minutes, the Turkish athlete, winner of the Baku Grand Slam this year, was leading with a comfortable advantage of three penalties, although knowing that a single score from KONDRATYEVA could give the victory to the Russian. But SAHIN controlled her opponent until the last second to add one more line to her prize list.

In the second bronze medal contest, Otgontsetseg GALBADRAKH (KAZ) faced JEONG Bo Kyeong (KOR). The Kazakh was the first to score with a superb counter attack for waza-ari and despite one penalty for passivity, she could secure the victory to step onto the podium.

Final
MUNKHBAT, Urantsetseg (MGL) vs. TONAKI, Funa (JPN)

Bronze Medal Fights
SAHIN, Ebru (TUR) vs. KONDRATYEVA, Nataliya (RUS)
GALBADRAKH, Otgontsetseg (KAZ) vs. JEONG, Bo Kyeong (KOR)

Final Results

1. TONAKI, Funa (JPN)
2. MUNKHBAT, Urantsetseg (MGL)
3. GALBADRAKH, Otgontsetseg (KAZ)
3. SAHIN, Ebru (TUR)
5. JEONG, Bo Kyeong (KOR)
5. KONDRATYEVA, Nataliya (RUS)
7. JON, Yu Sun (PRK)
7. RISHONY, Shira (ISR)

-52kg: NISHIDA is Back

The final of the women’s -52kg category opposed, Gulbadam BABAMURATOVA (TKM), winner of the 2015 edition of the Tashkent Grand Prix and NISHIDA Yuka (JPN), winner of the 2012 World Judo Masters in Almaty. Coming back to her top level, NISHIDA Yuka didn’t offer any chance for BABAMURATOVA to win the gold, and she folded her in the tatami, with a superb drop-morote-seoi-nage for ippon.

Top seeded athlete and winner of the 2015 Asian Championships, MA Yingnan (CHN), despite competing in front of home public, couldn’t reach the semi-final as she was defeated by the Swiss judoka Evelyne TSCHOPP during the preliminary rounds. Nevertheless she qualified for the bronze medal fight where she was opposed to Gili COHEN (ISR), winner of the Tbilisi Grand Prix earlier this year. Until a few seconds before the end of the bout, only one penalty was differentiating the two athletes, COHEN having been penalised earlier during the fight. A last-gasp ko-uchi-makikomi from MA secured her victory and a medal.

The second bronze medal fight saw ADIYASAMBUU Tsolmon (MGL) and Evelyne TSCHOPP (SUI), fighting for a place on the podium. Two minutes of observation were necessary for ADIYASAMBUU to score a first waza-ari with an action-reaction technique (tani-otoshi), that she immediately followed with an immobilisation but for no score. The Mongol athlete scored a second waza-ari with a kata-guruma to step onto the podium.

Final
BABAMURATOVA, Gulbadam (TKM) vs. NISHIDA, Yuka (JPN)

Bronze Medial Fight
MA, Yingnan (CHN) vs. COHEN, Gili (ISR)
ADIYASAMBUU, Tsolmon (MGL) vs. TSCHOPP, Evelyne (SUI)

Final Results
1. NISHIDA, Yuka (JPN)
2. BABAMURATOVA, Gulbadam (TKM)
3. ADIYASAMBUU, Tsolmon (MGL)
3. MA, Yingnan (CHN)
5. COHEN, Gili (ISR)
5. TSCHOPP, Evelyne (SUI)
7. GOMEZ, Laura (ESP)
7. KRAEH, Mareen (GER)

-57kg: World Number One Confirms Ranking in Qingdao

If she had several disillusions over the past events, one thing is for sure, it is that Miryam ROPER (GER) will never give up. The 33-year-old German is still a strong contender for international podiums and once again she entered the final to face the world number one DORJSUREN Sumiya (MGL). What is always amazing is that everyone knows that ROPER’s special movement is ko-soto-gake, but still, after a few seconds she was able to score a first yuko with a precise… ko-soto-gake. But the winner of the 2015 World Judo Masters also scored a yuko with a drop-seoi-nage and it was clear that ROPER would have difficulties to reply. DORJSUREN engaged another drop-seoi-nage for waza-ari this time that she followed on the floor with an immobilisation for ippon.

Both Japanese athletes TAMAOKI Momo (JPN) and YAMAMOTO Anzu (JPN) qualified for the first bronze medal fight of the women’s -57kg. Only penalties were distributed throughout the fight, which was concluded by a hansokumake (disqualification) for TAMAOKI for a leg grabbing technique, offering the medal to YAMAMOTO.

In the second bronze medal fight, it was another experienced athlete who qualified against the local LIU Yang, as Sabrina FILZMOSER was again present in the final block of a World Judo Tour event. Leading with a yuko, obtained with a counterattack, the Austrian was easily controlling her opponent and was almost able to immobilise her. But a ‘matte’ (stop) and ‘hajime’ (start) later, it was the Chinese who was taking control over FILZMOSER with a pin for yuko. Finally the victory went to the Chinese as the Austrian was penalised earlier during the fight.

Final
DORJSUREN, Sumiya (MGL) vs. ROPER, Miryam (GER)

Bronze Medal Fight
TAMAOKI, Momo (JPN) vs. YAMAMOTO, Anzu (JPN)
LIU, Yang (CHN) vs. FILZMOSER, Sabrina (AUT)

Final Results
1. DORJSUREN, Sumiya (MGL)
2. ROPER, Miryam (GER)
3. LIU, Yang (CHN)
3. YAMAMOTO, Anzu (JPN)
5. FILZMOSER, Sabrina (AUT)
5. TAMAOKI, Momo (JPN)
7. MANUEL, Darcina (NZL)
7. ZABLUDINA, Irina (RUS)

MEN

-60kg: An Azeri Can Hide Another One

The favourite of the category was Orkhan SAFAROV (AZE), world number six and the top seeded athlete in Qingdao, but it was his teammate Ilgar MUSHKIYEV, only ranked number 27 on the world ranking list, who entered the final against the world number 26, Jeroen MOOREN (NED).

At the end of the fight, the scoreboard clearly showed that it was a tense final, both athletes having scored a waza-ari, the Azeri Athlete with a tani-otoshi, and the Dutch with a powerful kata-guruma. But in the meanwhile, MUSHKIYEV had scored a yuko which offered him the 300 points of the winner.

In the shadow of his teammate Vincent LIMARE (FRA), finalist of the last Paris Grand Slam but who was eliminated in the first round of the competition, Walide KHYAR was predicted to shine at that level today in Qingdao. However, showing all of his concentration throughout the day, the Frenchman was the surprise fighter of the final block. He confirmed all of his potential by defeating, within a few seconds, the Russian Robert MSHVIDOBADZE, who didn’t see KHYAR’s counter attack coming for a clear ippon.

In the second bronze medal fight, Sharafuddin LUTFILLAEV (UZB) defeated Aibek IMASHEV (KAZ), with a yuko offering a first medal to the Uzbek team.

Final
MUSHKIYEV, Ilgar (AZE) vs. MOOREN, Jeroen (NED)

Bronze Medal Fights
KHYAR, Walide (FRA) vs. MSHVIDOBADZE, Robert (RUS)
LUTFILLAEV, Sharafuddin (UZB) vs. IMASHEV, Aibek (KAZ)

Final Results
1. MUSHKIYEV, Ilgar (AZE)
2. MOOREN, Jeroen (NED)
3. KHYAR, Walide (FRA)
3. LUTFILLAEV, Sharafuddin (UZB)
5. IMASHEV, Aibek (KAZ)
5. MSHVIDOBADZE, Robert (RUS)
7. GANBOLD, Kherlen (MGL)
7. SAFAROV, Orkhan (AZE)

-66kg: Baku Grand Slam Winner vs. Paris Grand Slam Gold Medallist: 1-0

For the first time on day one, the last male final opposed the two top seeded athletes of the category as world number two, DAVAADORJ Tumurkhuleg (MGL), winner of the last Paris Grand Slam, faced world number seven Nijat SHIKHALIZADA (AZE), winner of the Baku Grand Slam, earlier this year.

With an aerial ura-nage (counterattack), SHIKHALIZADA didn’t give a single chance to DAVAADORJ to top again the medal podium.

The first bronze medal fight opposed world number 26, Elio VERDE (ITA) and world number 12 and winner of the Düsseldorf Grand Prix this season, TAKAICHI Kengo (JPN). The Japanese fighter led by a yuko until the last seconds of the combat as VERDE was totally controlled by his younger rival, who finally held down VERDE for ippon.

The second Italian of the category, who so far was much less known than his compatriot VERDE, Matteo PIRAS, was also in contention for a place on the podium. Opposed to the Korean KIM Limhwan, he was unfortunate as well and lost on the same score, the only difference being that this time it was with a counterattack for ippon.

Final
DAVAADORJ, Tumurkhuleg (MGL) vs. SHIKHALIZADA, Nijat (AZE)

Bronze Medal Fights
VERDE, Elio (ITA) vs. TAKAICHI, Kengo (JPN)
PIRAS, Matteo (ITA) vs. KIM, Limhwan (KOR)

Final Results
1. SHIKHALIZADA, Nijat (AZE)
2. DAVAADORJ, Tumurkhuleg (MGL)
3. KIM, Limhwan (KOR)
3. TAKAICHI, Kengo (JPN)
5. PIRAS, Matteo (ITA)
5. VERDE, Elio (ITA)
7. MARGVELASHVILI, Vazha (GEO)
7. SCHNEIDER, Rene (GER)