Gold for Belarus at Judo Abu Dhabi Grand Slam

MINSK, 3 November (BelTA) – Belarusian judoka Dmitry Shershan claimed gold at the prestigious international competitions of the Grand Slam series that are underway in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, BelTA has learned.

Dmitry Shershan took the champion title in the -66kg weight class. He won five bouts defeating Algeria's Houd Zourdani, Hamad Sulaiman from Saudi Arabia and Germany's Sebastian Seidl in the qualifying round. The Belarusian was too strong for Adrian Gomboc from Slovenia in the semifinal and left no chances to Azerbaijan's Tarlan Karimov in the final.

According to the Belarusian Judo Federation, the previous victory of the Belarusian athlete at the Grand Slam tournaments dates back to 2011 when 2004 Olympic champion Igor Makarov claimed gold at the tournament in China. The success earned his a spot in the 2012 Summer Games in London.

Winning places at the Grand Slam tournaments which are one of the world's main judo competitions allow athletes score points (300 for the 1st place, 180 for the 2nd and 120 for the 3rd) for the participation in continental and world championships, Olympic Games.

This season Dmitry Shershan collected bronze at the 2014 European Judo Championships in Montpellier, France and won silver at the international Judo Grand Prix in Budapest, Hungary.

Alexander Steshenko brought Belarus another medal at the Judo Abu Dhabi Grand Slam tournament in the United Arab Emirates. The Belarusian athlete claimed bronze at the -81kg weight class. 

Alexander Steshenko held five bouts, winning four of them (two in the qualifying round and two in the repechage). The Belarusian beat Emmanuel Lucenti from Argentina and Nacif Elias from Lebanon. Alexander Steshenko fell to the winner of the competitions Ivan Nifontov from Russia. In the repechage the Belarusian beat Hemubatu Eri of China and was stronger in the bronze medal bout defeating Alain Schmitt of France.

Alexei Romanchik and Vadim Shoka (both in the -73kg division) did not advance far in the tournament. The former was eliminated after two bouts, while the latter completed his performance after the first appearance on the mat.

Winning places at the Grand Slam tournaments which are one of the world's main judo competitions allow athletes score points (300 for the 1st place, 180 for the 2nd and 120 for the 3rd) for the participation in continental and world championships, Olympic Games.

Another Belarusian Vae Tutkhalian (-66kg) finished 7th after two victories and one defeat in the qualifying round. He lost the opening bout of the repechage and completed his performance at the competitions. Yekaterina Nakhayenko of Belarus (48kg) was eliminated after her second bout. Arif Bagirov (60kg) and Darya Skrypnik (52kg) were out after the opening bouts.