At the Olympic Palace in Tbilisi, day two of the European Championships offered some huge moments, epic battles and an array of wins and losses that led to an intriguing final block. At the end of the day though, the two most decorated men of the category were lined up to fight for gold in the only men’s weight of the day.
2024 Olympic, world, and European champion Hidayat Heydarov (AZE) entered the arena in blue while Lasha Shavdatuashvili (GEO), the 2012 Olympic champion, 2013 European champion and 2021 world champion, arrived in white. The noise was almost deafening, every seat filled.
From the outset it was a masterclass in gripping, both champions aware of every twitch and adjustment the other made. Attack and defence converged and neither finalist was permitted to take a dominant position, neither was permitted to find space for their tokui-waza. From one side of the tatami to the other and back again, they put on a real show, authentically and with full commitment.
It took more than nine minutes of contest time to decide the winner, after many close calls and moments of holding our breath. Three penalties to two was the scoreline, the slimmest of margins, and it was Lasha Shavdatuashvili who took the win. The arena filled with pride, Georgian flags were waved in every corner of the Olympic Palace, but it was Lasha himself who had the biggest smile, celebrating a sweet victory an incredible thirteen years after his first and, until now, only senior European title.
In the first bronze medal contest for the -73 kg category, Akil Gjakova (KOS) was up against Bilal Ciloglu (TUR), and it was a very even match from the beginning. The only score came almost at the end of normal time as Ciloglu hooked onto Gjakova’s leg and threw with ko-soto-gake. It was a waza-ari for the Turkish athlete which would be converted into a European medal in the minutes that followed.
The second bronze medal contest was an all-French derby between world champion Joan-Benjamin Gaba and 20-year-old Dayyan Boulemtafes who has no milestone medals at any age band. Their contest was closer than perhaps Gaba would have liked in normal time and as they moved into golden score it was Gaba who was behind on penalties.
The run of play was respected fully when after just one minute of extra time, Boulemtafes countered the Olympic silver medallist with a huge o-soto-gaeshi to claim his first major medal.
It was an emotional finish for the youngster who has now told the world he is ready to graduate from the junior ranks.
Author: Jo Crowley