Andy Granda is the summum of surprise of the World Championships

Top sports is peaking at the right time and the best man today who peaked was Andy Granda of Cuba. A sensational victory and world title for Cuba that didn’t have a male world champion since 2013. Granda came to Tashkent to win a medal, not to show off but to peak for his best moment in his career. He defeated Japanese talent Tatsuru Saito, son of the legend Hitoshi Saito.

Saito is a 20-year-old heavyweight, weighing 160kg and he is the one chosen by Japan to reconquer an Olympic title that has eluded the country since 2008, when Satoshi Ishii owned it. He is mobile and has a refined technique and there was a lot of interest but in the final he was simply eliminated by Granda who showed a higher pace from the start and Saito couldn’t get the grip that he wanted and stranded with three shidos looking clueless to take the victory in a match that should have been a warm up for bigger rivals. Today Granda was the big man though.

The Cuban had prepared the final very well and did not let Saito find the desired grip. It was visible that the Japanese was uncomfortable and did not know how to gain control of the fight. Granda caused a second shido for Saito, feeding the hope of a Cuban gold in the most desired category. Granda launched three attacks in a row in the face of Saito's passivity, and that cost him defeat. He is very talented but he also has a lot to learn. As for Granda, his ending was a gem, an example of intelligence, and his title deserved because he had to fight against the best and beat them all. He became only the third Cuban man in history to win the world championships and the first heavyweight.

Granda showed the fighting spirit and his intelligence and experience against Tushishvili. Guram Tushishvili has everything to succeed but since his world title in 2018, taking big titles is difficult. Although he is not the only one. Tushishvili had quite an easy group but he made it difficult for himself. He was close to losing against the German Johannes Frey and was defeated by the Cuban Andy Granda. We say all this because Tushishvili is a better judoka than them. In the semi-finals the Cuban faced the Dutchman Roy Meyer, who, against all odds, eliminated the Uzbek Alisher Yusupov. Granda surprised Meyer with an ippon that one remembers all his life.

Olympic champion Lukas Krpalek was eliminated when he fell at the hands of the Korean Minjong Kim, a young man who will be talked about in the future. Tajik Temur Rakhimov, who arrived with the number one position in the ranking, came far but stranded against the Japanese opponent in the semi-finals. Rakhimov demonstrated strength, endurance and tactical intelligence. Saito applied what he has learned in his country and taught a part of his offensive panoply. It was a very balanced fight that entered the golden score phase, giving way to a new factor that would mark the final outcome. We are referring to energy, fatigue. Saito showed that he has trained well on the physical side because he keeps up the pace. One last uchi-mata attempt was enough for the Tajik to be disqualified for passivity. As said before, Saito wants glory immediately and does whatever it takes to get it.

Bronze for Tushishvili in tough battle

Tushishvili vs. Rakhimov was a kind of final with the wrong colour of medal on the line. They have similar silhouettes and are aggressive. The Georgian is more temperamental and has an enormous brute force. The first thing we noticed was that during the break he and his coaches did some excellent mental work and Tushishvili stormed in and scored waza-ari. Rakhimov just understood what he had in front of him, an opponent highly motivated not to leave Tashkent empty-handed. However, a fight is one thing for two and Rakhimov was not far behind and began to attack. In one sweep he dropped the Georgian but it wasn't enough and time was running out. Second try, but Tushishvili attacked and went to the ground to consume ten seconds. It was a good tactical move. 25 seconds, another failed attack and Rakhimov begins to surrender. Mate, 13 seconds and nothing more. Rakhimov did not know how to harm Tushishvili. As for the Georgian, he showed us his talent and his shortcomings, that's why we like him, because he is not a judoka that leaves anyone indifferent.

Bronze for spectacular Kim

Kim vs. Meyer was the fight of generations, those who stand the test of time and those who want to expel the veterans. It is the law of life and sport is no exception. In twelve seconds, Kim performed a spectacular attack for waza-ari. Twelve seconds later, he almost demanded a second one. The Dutchman was not up to the task but he has the experience to withstand the downpour, break the rhythm and look for solutions. The idea was good but technically Kim was ahead. Meyer tried but to no avail and the young Korean deservedly won the bronze.