World Judo Championship: Heydarov Finally Strikes World Gold

All the latest developments on the second day of the World Judo Championship in Abu Dhabi.

Transcript

00:00 All eyes were on Abu Dhabi and the second day of the IJF World Judo Championships.

00:08 Inside the Mubadala Arena, the tatami played host to a number of historic moments from

00:13 the stars of world judo.

00:15 A dynamic opening ceremony showcased the culture of the United Arab Emirates, in combination

00:20 with a display of judo.

00:23 Marius Wieser, IJF President and Nasser Al-Tamimi, General Secretary of the United Arab Emirates

00:29 Judo Federation officially opened the event.

00:32 Tanaka Ryoma, Japan's number 3 took on his teammate and Japanese number 4 Takeoka Takeshi,

00:39 both having had fantastic days.

00:44 An all Japanese final saw Tanaka take the ascendancy with two scores equaling Ippon.

00:50 Japan showing their dominance of the category.

00:54 The new world champion was delighted.

01:01 Guardian Girls International CEO Shin Koyamada awarded the medals.

01:09 It's my first world championships, I just really give it my all and I'm really looking

01:14 forward to having the red back number, the sign of being world champion.

01:20 The crowd were here to see one of the brightest stars of the moment, Krista Deguchi, the defending

01:25 world champion made it to the final in style and looked set to retain her red back patch.

01:33 Awaiting her was Korean rising star Hu Mimi, who had used her trademark dropping techniques

01:39 to reach the gold medal match.

01:42 A grueling 12 minute final was decided on penalties, Hu was overjoyed.

01:49 The medals were awarded by IJF ambassador Albano Carisi.

01:55 I really wish to win gold this time and I feel great about it.

02:01 Multiple world medalist Hidayat Haydarov was not here for anything other than gold, but

02:06 Japan's Ishii Ara looked on fine form, displaying typical dynamic Japanese judo.

02:13 The stage was set for the most dynamic of finishes, a score done with 15 seconds to

02:18 go he pulled out his trademark technique to score a pawn and became world champion.

02:24 A huge wave of relief and emotion to finally take the top spot for Azerbaijan.

02:34 Azerbaijan NOC secretary general Azar Aliyev presented the medals.

02:41 This will stay as one of the greatest moments of my life, in Abu Dhabi I made history, but

02:46 there is one history left, in Paris hopefully I will write more history.

02:53 Don't miss four more days of judo action in Abu Dhabi.

02:56 [MUSIC PLAYING]