“Emirates Judo” is the first “Arab” in the Tashkent Grand Championship

Abu Dhabi (Al Ittihad)
Emirates Judo continued its brilliance in the 2023 Tashkent Grand Slam Judo Championship, organized by the Uzbekistan Judo Federation, and under the supervision of the International Judo Federation IJF, with the participation of 364 male and female players from 49 countries, including 5 Arab countries: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Algeria. , and Lebanon.
The championship competitions concluded yesterday evening in the “Yunusabad” sports hall, with a total of cash prizes amounting to 154,000 dollars according to the regulations of the International Federation.
The major championship witnessed our fighter Zafar Kosov winning the bronze under 100 kg weight, by defeating the Ukrainian champion Anton Saviti, then the young Swiss Aish Daniel after a strong match, to reach the semi-finals of that group in the face of the Austrian champion Fara Aron, who finished runner-up in the final, To lose to him on points after an equal match that extended for the entire match, to lose the match as a result of a “tactical” mistake, which he did not have time to address without reaching a settlement with the “golden score”.
Dhofar won the playoffs against Kazakhstan’s Shahr Khan Nuri Khan to face the strong Japanese champion Kotaro Ooka, to climb together to the podium to win the bronze medal, after Dhofar showed the personality of the champion player to continue his brilliance in the last Asian Championship, in which he won the gold medal, and then reached the group stage in The Judo World Championship and the quarter-finals in Abu Dhabi Grand Slam due to injury, and he won fifth place in the Jerusalem Championship, and the silver in the Paris Grand Championship. Which will be hosted by the Qatari capital next May.
In the championship competitions, our young player, Gregory Aram, lost his match in the under-90 kg competitions to the Japanese champion, Murao Sanshizu, who won gold in the Tokyo 2020 Championship and the Paris Grand Slam 2021, and other world titles that favored him.
And with the end of the Tashkent Championship ceremony, Japan ranked first, then Uzbekistan runner-up, and Georgia third, while the UAE team ranked first in the Arab world, and 22nd in the general standings, equal to Azerbaijan, Romania, and Sweden, despite our participation with two players. Uzbekistan, with 56 male and female players.