Seen some pretty good matches so far. I think Paischer omo-plata swept his opponent and then held him down for ippon. Really slick newaza, maybe somebody will post a vid later.
Michael Eldred was eliminated but Depopolo is advancing into the 3rd round as I type.
Zantaraia and Kim Won-jin have a match coming up. If you remember the result from last time at the World Championships (also in Paris):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aXfFfDUsnw
At the risk of sounding like the biggest Zantaraia nut-hugger in the online judo community....I think he'll win his division. Sobirov is there, too, but he wasn't looking so hot at the Masters which was only 3 weeks ago. And I don't see anybody else (Davtyan, Nour, Paischer, et al) preventing GZ from making it to the finals.
BTW, you can watch the live stream on your phone/iPad/whatever mobile device you have. Just go to youtube.com/judo
No Iliadis, Kim Jae-bum, Wang Ki-chun, or Arsen Galstyan competing, but as expected Riner is competing and will probably take gold.
Wow, looks like Kim was ready this time. So much for my prediction.....
Just watched Delpopolo beat Wilkomirski in OT. Wilkomirski received 2 penalties for not attacking. Thanks for keeping us updated.
Damn, Kim just took out Davtyan. Impressive young judoka!
Delpopolo coming up against a Mongol whose name I can't spell....
Speaking of Americans, Malloy keeps advancing.
Nice ippon by Sobirov in golden score.
Maybe it's going to be Sobirov /Kim for the finals.
Delpopolo lost to the Mongolian by 2 penalties-yuko. Didn't see Travis Stevens name in the 81K pool. Is he hurt?
Not sure about Steven's condition. But we have Sobirov and Kim coming up. Another rematch from last year's world championships where Sobiriov came back with seconds left to win. Very excited to see this. Kim is on fire.
Bronze for Malloy, very respectable.
Some good footage of Kim near the end for those of you who haven't seen him. Notice how pissed Galstyan is after Kim gets ippon with morote seoi-nage. Ha!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dugbC_6TPe0
Damn, Sobirov is the man!!!!!! What was that, an ippon in 9 seconds?
The Koreans judo has been very impressive in this tournament. I saw something I never thought I would see, in the 66k semi final the Korean Cho picked up Khashbataar and just slammed him.
Travis has a lil hammy issue, should be good to go soon.
judoblackbelt - The Koreans judo has been very impressive in this tournament. I saw something I never thought I would see, in the 66k semi final the Korean Cho picked up Khashbataar and just slammed him.
Exact same thing I was thinking. Hard to believe what I saw.
Here's the -60 kg final. Short and sweet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99FOwsEAEJs
The Cuban Asley Gonzales is a beast at 90K. He is the only one I see who has the strength to match Iliadis. His opponenets looked scared of him.
This is the first time I've really watched Harrison's matches. She's running through everybody. I'll focus more on Gonzales, so far not been watching him.
Want to mention how much this stream sucks. Can't make it more than 1 minute without having problems....
Quarter,Semi's, Finals rounds begin 10 AM Eastern US time.
Bishof has the complete game in 81K. Don't think I have ever seen a judoka who can grip fight like he can. His throwing skills and mat skills are paramount. Naidan won the 100K and has changed his game with adding drop seionage. Still very difficult to throw. Kayla fought tuff against the Brazilian but the Brazilian just looked stronger and fresher.
Bishof has the complete game in 81K. Don't think I have ever seen a judoka who can grip fight like he can. His throwing skills and mat skills are paramount. Naidan won the 100K and has changed his game with adding drop seionage. Still very difficult to throw. Kayla fought tuff against the Brazilian but the Brazilian just looked stronger and fresher.