Teddy Riner, in search of precious points before the big Olympic meeting in Paris, qualified for the final of the Dushanbe Grand Slam, Sunday in Tajikistan.
The Frenchman, seeded No.2 in the tournament, will aim for gold in the final against seeded No.1, Tajik Temur Rakhimov, who will fight in front of his home crowd.
Riner is back on the tatamis five weeks after his victory at the Grand Slam in Antalya (Turkey) where, despite his success, he expressed a certain weariness. The 35-year-old Guadeloupean, who is aiming for a third individual Olympic title in the +100 kg category in Paris, said he ” fatigue “ et “without desire”.
A well-conducted journey
In Tajikistan, he started his day by easily dismissing the Turk Munir Ertug, 32nd in the world, who surrendered after 1 min 27 seconds of combat. In the quarter-final, the German Losseni Kone barely held on longer, but ended up giving in after 2 minutes.
In the semi-final, he faced the Russian Denis Batchaev, 19, who on paper did not represent any particular danger for the double Olympic +100 kg champion. But the 129th in the world created a surprise by dominating the Finnish Martti Puumalainen by ippon in the round of 16, the latest winner of the Masters and reigning European champion. Riner finally beat him by ippon by accelerating after 2:30 minutes of fighting.
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OOOH THIS IS TEDDY’S O-SOTO-GARI! ????
Teddy Riner (+100kg) is in the FINAL! ???#JudoDushanbe #GoLesBleus #FierdEtreJudoka pic.twitter.com/jdIbALwdKs
— France Judo (@francejudo) May 5, 2024
This tournament in Tajikistan could be Riner’s last before the Paris Olympics, in less than three months, unless he finally decides to participate in the World Championships in Abu Dhabi at the end of May.
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In the event of victory in the final, he would earn 1,000 points, which would allow him to leap up in the Olympic rankings and undoubtedly enter the Games as top seed. This status normally allows you to avoid a preliminary round and to have a clearer picture during the first fights.
2024-05-05 17:32:19
#Judo #Teddy #Riner #reaches #final #Tajikistan #Grand #Slam #Sport
