Kazakhstan’s former world champion and top judoka Maxim Rakov won gold in the men’s under 100 kilogrammes category at the season-ending Asian leg of the International Judo Federation’s (IJF) World Tour held at the capital’s Sary Arka cycle track Oct. 9 through 12.
Maxim Rakov
Yeldos Smetov
Rakov clinched his fifth Grand Prix title by defeating 2012 London Olympics bronze medalist Dmitri Peters of Germany in the finals. The fight was close and was eventually decided in the shido penalties.
Kazakhstan also won the tournament’s medal count with two gold, two silver and three bronze medals. One of Kazakhstan’s gold medals was won by Yeldos Smetov, who also won gold at the recent 17th Asian Games in South Korea.
The event attracted 277 competitors from 37 countries and included a surprise gold medal win by Tajik Komronshoh Ustopiriyon. It was the first gold medal taken by an athlete from Tajikistan.
