The Judo Grand Slam 2022 kicked off in the Azerbaijani capital Baku. It is a special year for Azerbaijani judo, 50 years ago their judo federation was founded.
A spectacular opening ceremony for the local fans was opened by Farid Gayibov, Minister of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Dr. Laszlo Toth, Vice-President of the IJF, and Rovshan Rustamov, Vice-President of the Azerbaijan Judo Federation.
The crowd went wild at the men’s under 60 kg final – young star Balabay Aghayev won the golden score, delighting his home judo fans.
In the women’s under 48kg category, Italy’s Francesca Milani competed against French European champion Shirine Boukli. The fight came to an end quickly. A powerful hip throw, typical of Boukli, landed ippon in the first 30 seconds and gave France their first medal of the tournament.
In the class up to 52kg, the Uzbek Diyora Keldiyorova secured her second Grand Slam title this year with a tactical victory, in the men up to 66kg Denis Vieru from Moldova won.
The 2019 World Champion, Christa Deguchi, showed her best side in the weight class up to 57kg – and won gold.
The spectators had much to celebrate today, not only with gold for Azerbaijan, but also with 2 fantastic bronze medals for local hero Orkhan Safarov, who scored ippon with a brilliant moment.
To crown their success, this thunderous Ippon by Karamat Huseynov, which shows that 50 years of judo has made Azerbaijan one of the strongest and most passionate judo nations in the world.
