Judo: Toma Nikiforov in the final for gold in Tashkent!
Toma Nikiforov in the final, for gold, in Tashkent! Opposed to the young Uzbek (20 years old) Turoboyev, who came from -90 kg with a head more than him (!), Toma qualified for the -100 kg final this Sunday, in Tashkent. Led by waza-ari after barely 25 seconds, the Brussels resident then strangled his opponent with a movement on the ground. Seized by convulsions, the Uzbek was unable to resume the fight against our compatriot.
On the way to the gold medal now! And confidence regained …
Previously, Toma had dismissed the Serbian Dosen (28 years / n ° 30) on a beautiful movement which earned him a waza-ari, then the victory. But it was nothing compared to the one he inflicted on the German Kurbjeweit (26), recently mounted from -90 to -100 kg and literally balanced after less than two minutes of combat.
And yet, the turning point of the start of the day was undoubtedly in the quarter-final, where the Brussels resident was opposed to the Mongol Batkhuyag (21 years old / n ° 226!). Despite a first penalty for passivity, it evolved without complex and even scored waza-ari on a counter! In the process, the referee nevertheless imposed a second sanction on him for taking an illicit kimono.
The tension was at its height, to the point that Damiano Martinuzzi, the coach of Toma, was sent back to the stand while he was simply advising his judoka. But, barely fifteen seconds later, when Toma Nikiforov launched a new attack, without success, the referee penalized the Mongol a third time, again for passivity, thus offering the victory to our compatriot. Relief!
Sophie Berger eliminated too soon …
In -78 kg, Sophie Berger took the first round by beating the Slovenian Brolih (24 years old / n ° 54), whom she had already met in… 2016, in Lignano, when the two judokas were still juniors. Led to the score, Sophie equalized about twenty seconds from the end of the fight before immobilizing her opponent. Opposed, then, to the Israeli Lanir (20 years old / n ° 57), the Liégeoise unfortunately bowed after being taken to the ground and… immobilized by the European champion -23 years old, promised a bright future.