“Judo” concludes its “positive participation” in the “Tokyo Grand Slam”

Abu Dhabi (Etihad)

The judo team concluded its good and positive participation in the “Tokyo Grand Slam” tournament, which witnessed the participation of 506 male and female players representing 84 countries, including 7 Arab teams, and its prizes amounted to 154 thousand dollars, and it came at the conclusion of the International Judo Federation tournaments in 2023, in search of adding More qualification points for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Our team, which participated with 3 female and 5 male players, obtained an impressive number of points, which were added to its score in the competition and was close to qualifying for the Olympics, in continuation of the previous participations in London, Brazil, and Tokyo.
The final round witnessed Narmand Bayan’s victory at the beginning of the preliminary round over the Swiss Fix in the under-66 kg category, which ensured his qualification to meet Rakhimov Sardar, the champion of Turkmenistan, in the second round. Indeed, his superiority came according to the experts’ nominations, after a strong performance that qualified him for that stage to meet Rakhimba Batu, the champion of Mongolia. However, he lost in the “Golden Escorts” before reaching the quarter-finals, showing wonderful levels that are reflected in his upcoming participations at a young age.
Bashirat Khordi opened her career in the under-52 kg light weight category, with her victory in the preliminary round over Karina Efimova, a player from the “Neutrals” team for the women’s singles, after an outstanding performance that tipped the balance in her favor from the beginning, to face the Dutch Naomi Van, in the second stage of the light weight qualifiers, and Bashirat was able to win. Grabbing the second victory, to reach the second round, against Yuta Abe, the Japanese champion, but she lost the opportunity to reach the final, due to the pressure of the match schedule, and our player was content with competing in the “consolation play-off” against Mongolian Suso Baram, but she was subjected to clear injustice from the “VAR” referees. She received the third “unfair” warning, yet she accepted the decision, which made her lose the chance to win the bronze medal, thus bidding her farewell to the tournament.
On the men’s level, Dhafer Aram lost in the heavy weight category – under 100 kg – to Italian champion Gennaro Pirelli with a “golden goal”. Nasser Al Tamimi, a member of the National Olympic Committee, Secretary General and Treasurer of the International Federation, witnessed the championship competitions and participated in the crowning of the weight category under 81 kg.