Sarajevo, Aug 5, 2015: On the opening day in the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the boys’ -50kg and -55kg judoka were in the medal hunt along with the girls’ -40kg and -44kg athletes.
Wednesday marked one year to go until the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and while the world’s senior stars – who compete in the senior Worlds in Astana later this month – hit 365 days in their countdown, the next generation of stars and Tokyo 2020 hopefuls were giving their all in Sarajevo.
Russia lead the medal table at the end of day one with a haul of one gold medal and two bronze medals with Kazakhstan second and Ukraine third.
The Cadet Worlds Championships has been the launching point for many careers and on Thursday judoka in four more categories will be thrust into the action and into the spotlight of an IJF World Championships. The boys’ -60kg and -66kg categories will be featured along with the girls’ -48kg and -52kg categories.
GIRLS
-40kg: Russia’s BORISOVA strikes first in Sarajevo
Cadet European Championships Team gold medallist Olga BORISOVA (RUS) struck individual gold on the highest stage of her career as the 15-year-old defeated BAASANSUREN Oidovchimed (MGL) in the -40kg final. Both judoka showed their desire for the u18 world title all day long and produced a scoreless but yet entertaining final which saw the Russian youngster win on shido penalties with one against the Mongolian for passivity.
In the first semi-final Cadet European Championship silver medallist Lidia MARIN (ROU) lost out to BAASANSUREN (MGL). The Mongolian judoka opened the scoring with a yuko before her Romanian rival restored level terms with a yuko of her own from an ouchi-gari. The highly-competitive contest required an extra period of golden score and three minutes later BAASANSUREN was awarded the win after MARIN was penalised for passivity. In the second semi-final Cadet European Champion Shahana HAJIYEVA (AZE) was undone by 15-year-old Cadet European Team champion Olga BORISOVA (RUS) who registered a yuko which was the only score in the four minute contest.
The first bronze medal was awarded to Oumaima BEDIOUI (TUN) who surprised HAJIYEVA (AZE) to capture a place on the podium. The contest was level after four minutes with two penalties apiece and no scores which meant that golden score would be required. After 34 seconds of additional time, HAJIYEVA was trapped in osaekomi and after six seconds of being under pressure she elected to submit. The second bronze medal was won by top seed MARIN (ROU) who dismissed 15-year-old Cadet European Cup bronze medallist Nursulu YERALIYEVA (KAZ) as the Romanian produced two yuko scores which went without reply.
-44kg: Unbeatable Ukrainian prodigy BILODID driven by Olympic dream
Daria BILODID (UKR) remained undefeated in 2015 as the 14-year-old prodigy won all four contests to win her first world gold medal. BILODID, who was coached to glory by her mum Svetlana and was supported by her dad and former European champion Gennady BILODID in the stands, defeated European Youth Olympic Festival winner Sofia PETITTO (ITA) in the -44kg final. BILODID was penalised with a shido for putting her hand inside the trouser leg of her opponent during a sankaku-gatame but learnt from that mistake and carried out the same technique a minute later with no issues to force the Italian to submit.
BILODID said: “My dream is to win the Olympic title, which is my greatest ambition. I am very pleased to win here in Sarajevo and in front of my parents.”
In the first semi-final BILODID (UKR) bested Iuliia OGARKOVA (RUS) in a rematch and repeat result of the Cadet European Championships final. The Ukrainian held the Russian down for 20 seconds and ippon to seal her place in the final in Sarajevo. In the second semi-final French u18 Championships winner Shirine BOUKLI (FRA) fell to in-form Italian PETITTO (ITA) by ippon with 74 seconds remaining in the contest.
The first bronze medal was clinched by Cadet All Japan Championships winner IGARASHI Riko (JPN) who defeated beaten semi-finalist BOUKLI (FRA) with an ippon seoi-nage having led by a waza-ari and yuko. The second bronze medal was won by Jessica SILVA (BRA) who threw OGARKOVA (RUS) for ippon after 69 seconds.
BOYS
-50kg: Kazakhstan’s YSTYBAY captures Cadet World gold
European Youth Olympic Festival winner Biagio D ANGELO (ITA) was unable to seal a second international title in as many weeks as the -50kg category was ruled by two-time Cadet European Cup bronze medallist Aibolat YSTYBAY (KAZ). D ANGELO won the EYOF last week in Tbilisi, Georgia, and arrived in Sarajevo as one of the favourites. The 16-year-old went behind to a yuko score after one minute and 20 seconds a buoyant YSTYBAY then countered the Italian for ippon and Cadet World gold.
In the first semi-final YSTYBAY (KAZ) defeated Cadet European Championship silver medallist Giorgi NIAZASHVILI (GEO) by a waza-ari while in the second semi-final D ANGELO (ITA) denied Cadet Asian Cup winner BAYANMUNKH Narmandakh (MGL) a route into the final by a yuko score.
The first bronze medal was claimed by Cadet European Team bronze medallist Kazbek NAGUCHEV (RUS) who beat NIAZASHVILI (GEO) through osaekomi. The second bronze medal went to BAYANMUNKH Narmandakh (MGL) who scored a last-ditch waza-ari against Joao Paulo CORREIA (BRA) to book a place on the podium.
-55kg: Bulgarian boy wonder IVANOV tops the podium
Cadet European champion Denislav IVANOV (BUL) blew away the opposition on day one to win gold for Bulgaria. IVANOV saw off Cadet European Cup bronze medallist Tofig MAMMADOV (AZE) in the -55kg final which was the last contest on the opening day. IVANOV submitted MAMMADOV with shime-waza at the halfway mark and fought back the tears as he stepped onto the podium to receive his gold medal.
In the first semi-final IVANOV (BUL) bested Cadet European Championships bronze medallist Khamzat AKHMAROV (RUS) by a yuko while in the second semi-final MAMMADOV (AZE) defeated Cadets Pan American Cup gold medallist Renan TORRES (BRA) by the same margin.
The first bronze medal was won by AKHMAROV (RUS) who returned to winning ways against PONGRACZ Bence (HUN) as he threw beautifully with uchi-mata for ippon. The second bronze medal went to Vano KHUBASHVILI (GEO) who floored his opponent Renan TORRES (BRA) twice with ashi-waza and earned a waza-ari each time to defeat the Brazilian. The second and match-winning score came from a de-ashi-barai as the Georgian showed great footwork.
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COMPETITION PROGRAMME
Thursday
12:00 Preliminaries on three mats
17:00 Final block on two mats
Girls: -48kg, -52kg
Boys: -60kg, -66kg
Friday
12:00 Preliminaries on three mats
16:15 Opening ceremony
17:00 Final block on two mats
Girls: -57kg, -63kg
Boys: -73kg, -81kg
Saturday
12:00 Preliminaries on three mats
17:00 Final block on two mats
Girls: -70kg, +70kg
Boys: -90kg, +90kg
Sunday – Team Competition
10:00 Preliminaries on three mats
17:00 Final block (medal contests only) on two mats
Location: Olympic Hall Juan Antonio Samaranch. —- Photos © IJF Media by G. Sabau
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