By Michael Pavitt

The 2015 World Cup and Junior World Games was the biggest event held in Hungary for people with disabilities ©IBSAHungarian city Eger played host to a weekend of action in the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) Judo World Cup and the Junior World Games, with Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan the two most successful nations. 

Competition was sure to be fierce with Paralympic ranking points for Rio 2016 up for grabs, while the event continued the judoka's preparations for May's IBSA World Games in South Korean capital Seoul.

The discipline will be a medal event at the inaugural European Games in Baku later this year, and there was success for two Azerbaijan hopefuls in Hungary, as Ramil Gasimov and Ilham Zakiyev took titles in the men's under 73 kilogram and over 100kg weight categories.

Uzbekistan were the most successful nation, earning four gold medals, two silvers and one bronze medal over the weekend.

Their victories came from Sherzod Namozov, Nurbek Berdiyorov, Shirin Sharipov in the men's competitions while Tursunpashsha Nurmetova was victorious in the women's under 63kg event to propel them to the top of the medal rostrum ahead of South Korea and Azerbaijan.

South Korea's successes came from Lee Jung Min in the men's under 81kg men's division, after he overcame Ukraine's Oleksandr Kosinov to secure gold, and Ha Na Seo defeated Sabina Abdullayeva to win the women's under 57kg.

Britain's Sam Ingram took gold in the under 90kg division, while his compatriot Jack Hodgson earned a bronze medal in the World Cup over 100kg before earning a gold in the Junior World Games the following day.

Visually impaired Judo will be a medal event at the Baku 2015 European Games ©Getty ImagesVisually impaired Judo will be a medal event at the Baku 2015 European Games ©Getty Images



Belarus, France, Germany and the Ukraine took a sole gold medal home in the women's events, with 31 nations competing across the three days, making it the largest competition for athletes with disabilities held in the country.

The International Judo Federation also held a successful trial of a new refereeing system, with the Computer Aided Replay (CARE) system used throughout the weekend, a video which supports referees to ensure that the rightful judoka is awarded a contest.

A three-day training camp is due to begin tomorrow with 125 judokas taking part, with an international coaching seminar on how to teach blind judokas judo techniques also to set the feature.

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