The anthem of Georgia was sung at Tbilisi Grand Prix for the third time. After the opening ceremony and Vazha Margvelashvili’s (66 kg) triumph, this time in honor of Nugzar Tatalashvili (73 kg). The Georgian judoka beat five opponents, won gold medal and earned 300 ranking points.
Georgia had four representatives in 73 kg and three of them won medal. Lasha Shavdatuashvili and Phridon Gigani won bronze medals. Only Giorgi Katsiashvili was left without a medal. He lost the first round to Georgios Azoidis of Greece.
Tatalashvili defeated Andreas Krassas of Cyprus by waza-ari. In 1/8 final Nugzar won over Mirali Sharipov of Uzbekistan by shidos (1:3). Then, he beat Marcelo Contini of Brazil by ippon. In semifinal Tatalashvili defeated Azoidis and in final he won over Odbayar Ganbaatar of Mongolia.
Ganbaatar beat our bronze medal winners – Phridon Gigani in ¼ final and Lasha Shavdatuashvili in semifinal.
Before losing to Ganbaatar, Shavdatuashvili defeated three opponents – Emmanuel Nartey of Ghana, Chol Gwang Kim of North Korea and Tommy Macias of Sweden.
After losing to Ganbaatar, Lasha Shavdatuashvili won over Marcelo Contini of Brazil in “bronze final”.
Phridon Gigani overcame three rounds before ¼ final. He beat Nicholas Delpopolo of the USA, Andre Alves of Portugal. In repechage semifinal the Georgian judoka defeated Tommy Macias of Sweden and in “bronze final” he won over Georgios Azoidis.
In 81 kg Ushangi Margiani lost to the first opponent Aziz Kalkamanuly of Kazakhstan.
Giorgi Papunashvili won over Kodo Nakano of the Philippines and Diogo Lima of Portugal but then lost to Roman Moustopoulos of Greece.
Levan Gugava beat Ramunas Diburys of Lithuania, Szabolcs Krizsan of Hungary, Emirhan Yucel of Turkey, Ivaylo Ivanov of Bulgaria. In semifinal Gugava defeated Roman Moustopoulos of Greece by two waza-aris.
Unfortunately, in final the Georgian judoka fell to Alan Khubetsov of Russia who beat Zebeda Rekhviashvili in ¼ final. Rekhviashvili failed to Moustopoulos too and finally, he took the fifth place. Before these two failures, Rekhviashvili won over Shalva kalabegashvili of Spain, Ivan Vorobev of Russia and Alexios Ntanatsidis of Greece. In repechage semifinal the Georgian defeated Aziz Kalkamanuly of Kazakhstan.
Yesterday women champions and prize winners were also revealed in 63 and 70 kg. Georgia had only one representative in 70 but Esther Stam fell to the first rival – Lior Wildikan of Israel.
After two days the Georgian team has 2 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals.
Today men champions and prize winners will be revealed in 90, 100 and +100 kg, women champions and prize winners in 78 and +78 kg. The following judokas will wrestle in the name of Georgia: Zviad Gogochuri, Paata Gviniashvili, Tornike Jugeli, Archil Gogolashvili (all 90 kg), Lasha Guruli, Jaba Mumladze, Beka Gviniashvili, Lasha Taveluri (all 100 kg), Adam Okruashvili, Onise Bugadze, Giorgi Lazuashvili, Vakhtang Okruashvili (all +100 kg) and Elene Kebadze (+78 kg).
The preliminary stage will start at 10:00.
