Tokyo Grand Slam bronze medallist Oshima blocked home favourite Sharafuddin Lutfillaev’s path to glory, executing a beautiful turnover to trap his Uzbek opponent in osaekomi for ippon.

Meanwhile, teenage prodigy Abe beat Qingdao Grand Prix bronze medallist Duanbin Ma of China by ippon in just 36 seconds courtesy of an osoto-gari.

The 18-year-old won all five of his fights by ippon and did not give up a single score, continuing to raise his performance level with every outing.

The first under 60kg bronze medal was claimed by Uzbekistan’s Diyorbek Urozboev with Turkey’s Bekir Ozlu unable to compete due to injury, while the second went to Kyrgyzstan’s Otar Bestaev at the expense of North Korea’s Jae Yong An.

Mongolia’s Altansukh Dovdon won the first under 66kg bronze medal, overcoming Georgia’s Vazha Margvelashvili before Belarus’ Dzmitry Shershan got the better of Slovenia’s Adrian Gomboc for the second.

In the first of three women’s finals on day one of competition, former world champion and World Judo Masters winner Urantsetseg Munkhbat of Mongolia struck gold by defeating South Korea’s Bo Kyeong Jeong in the under 48kg category.

Both judoka were penalised for not taking a grip after 54 seconds, but Munkhbat immediately responded with some intricate ne-waza work and trapped her opponent in osaekomi for 17 seconds and waza-ari.

The Mongolian was penalised again for a false attack but kept her composure to ensure yet another IJF podium.

Russia’s Irina Dolgova beat Turkey’s Dilara Lokmanhekim in the first bronze medal contest, followed by a triumph for Kazakhstan’s Otgontsetseg Galbadrakh to the detriment of Israel’s Shira Rishony.

Turkmenistan’s Gulbadam Babamuratova showed that her fifth-place finish in the World Championships was a sign of things to come as she not only secured her country’s first Grand Prix gold medal, but also became the first female judoka from Turkmenistan to grace an IJF podium with success in the under 52kg class.

Babamuratova dismissed surprise finalist Maria Ertl of Germany by two waza-ari with the second a robust makikomi effort.

The first bronze medal was clinched by Olympic bronze medallist Priscilla Gneto of France, defeating Belarus’ Darya Skrypnik after which Israel’s Gili Cohen saw off the challenge of beaten semi-finalist Yingnan Ma of China.

Asian Championships bronze medallist Jan-Di Kim of South Korea chalked up the second Grand Prix win of her career by emphatically dispatching Baku Grand Slam bronze medallist Irina Zabludina of Russia in the under 57kg final.

The world number 24 floored Zabludina with a thunderous osoto-gari for ippon after two minutes.

The first bronze medal was won by China’s Yang Liu, who edged out Budapest Grand Prix silver medallist Viola Waechter of Germany, while the second was taken by Ulaanbaatar Grand Prix silver medallist Helene Receveaux of France with Austria’s Sabrina Filzmoser missing out.

Prior to the opening day’s medal contests, the Opening Ceremony took place with a traditional dance exhibition and presentation of the competing countries' flags. 

The welcome speech was made by Murod Aliev, First Vice-Minister for Cultural and Sports Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The three-day Grand Prix, which is now in its third year, is set to continue tomorrow with judoka from the women’s under 63kg and under 70kg categories due to be joined in action by those from the men’s under 73kg and under 81kg classes.  

To watch the latest action on Judo TV click here. 



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