8 medals and team 4th place – it is the result of Georgian judo team at Tbilisi traditional international tournament. In spite of that, the team of Irakli Uznadze wrestled on tatami without several experienced members. Georgian sportsmen wrestled in two finals and only Adam Okruashvili (+100kg) managed to stand on pedestal.
The Georgian heavyweight defeated four opponents and European Open ended up with Georgian anthem. No.1 seed Okruashvili beat Armenian Azat Abrahamian, Ukrainian Mikita Dibrin and Japanese Riu Shichino in 55 seconds. In final the Georgian won over Takeshi Ojitani.
Lasha Guruli (100kg) needed one victory till the championship. In the final he lost to Or Sason of Israel by ippon and won silver medal. Before the decisive fight Guruli defeated Ukrainian Viacheslav Denisov, Latvian Viktor Reshko and Iranian Javad Mahjoub.
Before beating Guruli, in semifinal Sason beat Davit Loriashvili. The Georgian took the third place. He defeated Russian Shamil Magomedov by yuko. In the main draw, before semifinal the Georgian judoka beat Azerbaijani Sain Mamadov, Ukrainian Artem Bloshenko and Kazakhstani Taigat Amrenov.
Like Loriashvili, Lasha Taveluri (90kg) and Giorgi Zakariadze (+100kg) won bronze medals. Taveluri won over Ukrainian Artem Guliyaev, Azerbaijani Ramin Gurbanov and British Andrew Burns but lost to Azerbaijani Shahin Gahramanov. In repechage final Gahramanov defeated compatriot Murad Rajabli by ippon.
Zakariadze held two fights in the main draw: in 1/8 final he beat Azerbaijani Andrei Fatiyev. In ¼ final he could do nothing against Japanese Shichinoe. In repechage Zakariadze won over Ukrainian Dibrini and Russian Anton Krivobokov.
Yesterday 16 Georgians wrestled at European Open. Beka Gviniashvili (90kg) went through to semifinal by three ippons. Finally, Gviniashvili took the 5th place. Heavyweight Onise Bugaze took the 7th place.
Levan Tsiklauri, Lasha Zurabiani, Paata Gviniashvili and Iason Chilindrishvili wrestled unsuccessfully in 81kg. Failure of Tsiklauri was unexpected – he lost the first round.
Failure of Zviad Gogochuri was also unexpected. In 90kg the Georgian lost to Azerbaijani Gabramanov. Jumber Gigauri (90kg), Giorgi Nozadze, Giorgi Kavtaradze (both 100kg) and Levan Matiashvili (+100kg) lost the first round.
The Georgian team was behind Azerbaijan, Israel and Japan. Peter Seisenbacher, former head coach of the Georgian team, headed the Azerbaijani team which became champion.
Otar Maglakelidze
