Sharipov overwhelmed Junior World Championships bronze medallist Nuno Saraiva of Portugal in the weight category's final to top the podium in his country’s capital for a second time.

The 21-year-old Saraiva had no way out from a tate-shiho-gatame and remained pinned to the tatami for 20 seconds.

Sharipov, the world number 59, won inside 45 seconds to send the crowd into raptures as he did in 2013, while Saraiva, the world number 81, will be content with his day’s work having won his first IJF senior medal.

The first bronze medal was clinched by Sharipov’s compatriot Giyosjon Boboyev with victory over Tyumen Grand Slam bronze medallist Igor Wandtke of Germany, after which North Korea’s Kuk Hyon Hong beat European Open silver medallist Dmytro Kanivets of Ukraine to the second.

In the men’s under 81kg category, World Judo Masters bronze medallist Sergiu Toma of the United Arab of Emirates won his fourth Grand Prix gold medal by defeating Tyumen Grand Slam winner Ivan Vorobev of Russia in the final.

Toma edged ahead with a yuko from a sumi-gaeshi and, after an initial response of attacking flurries, Vorobev ran out of ideas at the crucial moment, while Toma had plenty in reserve.

The first bronze medal was won by Zagreb Grand Prix silver medallist Laszlo Csoknyai of Hungary, denying former Tbilisi Grand Prix bronze medallist Asaf Chen of Israel before Kazakhstan’s Aziz Kalkamanuly clinched the second by defeating Kyrgyzstan’s Vladimir Zoloev, who was fifth at the Asian Championships this year.

On the women’s side, Zagreb Grand Prix bronze medallist Edwige Gwend of Italy won the second Grand Prix title of her career as she surpassed Samsun Grand Prix silver medallist Hilde Drexler of Austria in the under 63kg final.

Gwend, who won the Tbilisi Grand Prix last year, was effective and hard-working as she gained the maximum 300 world ranking points ahead of a long Asian tour and three upcoming Grand Slams.

A single shido against Drexler was the decisive moment as both judoka were unable to produce a score.

The first bronze medal was won by former Madrid European Open runner-up Franciska Szabo of Hungary, who beat world number 12 Alice Schlesinger of Great Britain to capture the first Grand Prix medal of her career.

Joining her on the third step of the podium was Busra Katipoglu of Turkey, who defeated Jeju Grand Prix silver medallist Isabel Puche of Spain.

As for the women’s under 70kg category, former world bronze medallist Kim Seongyeon of South Korea won her maiden Grand Prix title, stopping Astana Grand Prix silver medallist Esther Stam of Georgia from achieving the same feat in the final.

After a tentative first half of the contest, Kim increased her activity and pressured Stam who became only the second Georgian woman to win a Grand Prix medal following Irine Leonidze, winner of the Baku Grand Prix in 2012.

Kim went ahead with a yuko and was penalised twice for going out of the area, but she had all the tools to see out the remainder of the contest and achieve yet more success for South Korea’s women’s team in Uzbekistan.

The first bronze medal was won by Katarzyna Klys of Poland, who overcame former World Judo Masters winner Ye-Sul Hwang of South Korea, while the second went the way of Ulaanbaatar Grand Prix silver medallist Chao Zhou of China, who outworked her German opponent Iljana Marzok for the entire contest.

The seventh Grand Prix of the season is set to culminate tomorrow with the men’s under 90kg, under 100kg and over 100kg categories taking centre stage, along with the women’s under 78kg and over 78kg classes.   

To watch the latest action on Judo TV click here. 



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