Odbayar Ganbaatar won men's under 73kg gold in Abu Dhabi ©IJF

Mongolia had mixed fortunes in men’s finals on the second day of the International Judo Federation (IJF) Grand Slam in Abu Dhabi, with their judokas tasting victory and defeat.

World Championship bronze medallist Odbayar Ganbaatar continued his impressive form in the men’s under 73 kilogram division at the IPIC Arena in the United Arab Emirates’ city.

The Mongolian clinched his fourth medal in his last four IJF events by progressing to the final, where he took a waza-ari lead against Musa Mogushkov, before the Russian was forced to withdraw due to injury.

Ganbaatar and Mogushkov were joined on the podium by Olympic and world silver medallist Rustam Orujov of Azerbaijan, who beat Belgium’s Dirk van Tichelt in the first bronze medal match.

Israel’s Tohar Butbul claimed the second bronze on offer but, as with his compatriots Tal Flicker and Gili Cohen yesterday, he was forced to compete under the IJF flag.

This is due to the UAE having no diplomatic relations with Israel and not recognising the country.

The second men’s final of the day saw Mongolia’s Uuganbaatar Otgonbaatar suffer defeat to The Netherlands’ Frank De Wit.

De Wit claimed the early advantage with a waza-ari score, before sealing victory with an ippon to add to his Paris Grand Slam triumph earlier this year.

Bronze medals were earned by Russia’s Alan Khubetsov and Iran’s Saeid Mollaei.

Anna Bernholm became the first Swedish woman to win a gold medal on the IJF World Tour ©IJF
Anna Bernholm became the first Swedish woman to win a gold medal on the IJF World Tour ©IJF

Sweden’s Anna Bernholm prevented the Dutch team from winning a second gold medal of the day, as she beat Kim Polling in the women’s under 70kg division.

Bernholm beat Polling with a waza-ari in a golden score period, with the success making her the first Swedish woman to win a gold medal on the IJF World Tour.

The podium was completed by Brazil’s Maria Portela and Miriam Butkereit of Germany, after they won their bronze medal contests.

In the women’s under 63kg competition, Italy’s Edwige Gwend battled to her first gold medal since the Tashkent Grand Prix in 2015.

She saw off the challenge of Lucy Renshall in a golden score period in the final, following the Briton receiving a shido penalty.

Poland’s Agata Ozdoba and Austria’s Kathrin Unterwurzacher earned bronze medals in the division.

Competition is set to continue tomorrow.

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