Georgia’s Luka Maisuradze and Lasha Bekauri (white) compete in the men’s -90kg final bout. Picture: AFP
Luka Maisuradze yesterday took sweet revenge of his compatriot Lasha Bekauri as the European title holder defeated the reigning Olympic champion in an all-Georgian final in the men’s individual under 90kg event at the World Judo Championships - Doha 2023.
Maisuradze lost to the Tokyo Olympics champion Bekauri at the 2023 Judo Grand Slam in Tbilisi in March in the title decider, but this time, the current European title holder prevailed after giving a strong performance in their weight class that featured 58 contestants.
The two Georgians, familiar opponents at the international stage, have now stood next to each other in the World Championship podium two years in a row.
Sweden’s Markus Nyman and Japan’s Sanchiro Murao both claimed bronze medals.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Saki Niizoe clinched her maiden individual world title in the -70 kg final, outplaying unseeded Italian Giovanna Scoccimarro in the final to better her record at the World Championships. She took bronze last year in Tashkent.
Japan’s Saki Niizoe (left) and Germany’s Giovanna Scoccimarro compete in the women’s -70kg final bout. Picture: AFP
The bronze medal bout between Katie-Jemima Yeats-Brown and Austrian Michaela Polleres, the Briton lost consciousness for a brief period.
Yeats-Brown was caught in a chokehold the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Polleres, and had to be treated for a few minutes before she managed to get up as the Austrian became the first from her country to win a medal at a world championship. Croatia’s Barbara Matic, the world champion in 2021 and 2022, who was defeated by the eventual champion Niizoe, also settled in for a bronze after defeating Venezuelan Elvismar Rodriguez, who had already achieved her best result at a world championship.
Already past its halfway mark, the Doha 2023 is going great guns and has impressed top officials from around the world.
Among them, President of Moroccan Judo Federation Dr. Chafik Al Kettani praised the flawless organisation of the event, describing it as the best version ever in the history of world championships.
“This is the best competition he attended so far, having been to the ones held in Japan, Azerbaijan, and France,” Dr Al Kettani, who also praised the facilities and logistics of the competition, told Qatar News Agency.
Luka Maisuradze celebrates with his gold medal.
He added the organisers have provided all the ingredients for success for this event, echoing IJF President views regarding Qatar’s ability to host the Olympic Games successfully, as “they did with the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022”.
Dr. Al Kettani also said that the performance level in the tournament was exceptionally high, highlighting the surprises sprung during the competition with world and Olympic champions suffering early exits.
Japan are leading the medal tally with four gold, two silver and four bronze medals, followed by Georgia (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) at the second spot, and France third (1 gold, 1 silver, two bronze).
Today, judokas will hit the mat in the -100kg (men) and -78kg (women) contests.
