The Azerbaijani judo team has won its first medal at the World Championship held in Budapest. On the fourth day of the competition, Zelim Tckaev, competing in the 81 kg weight category, claimed the bronze medal. This is Tckaev’s first time reaching the podium at a World Championship.
Tckaev has been making a name for himself on the international stage in recent years, Idman.biz reports.
Although he had struggled to achieve consistent results at major events, Tckaev had previously won four Grand Slam tournaments. However, he had not managed to secure a medal at either the World or European Championships. This year, however, marked a turning point for him: after winning the Grand Slam in Baku, he became the bronze medalist at the European Championships, and now, he has won bronze at the World Championship.
But the path to the medal was far from easy: Tckaev, who had defeated Chinese Jinyan Wang and Brazilian Luan Almeida early in the tournament, performed well against Olympic bronze medalist Yun-Hwan Lee, winning with a waza-ari technique. In the semifinals, he faced three-time world champion Tato Grigalashvili. A few months earlier, the two had met in the semifinals of the European Championship in Podgorica, where the Georgian judoka won in overtime following a controversial referee decision. This time, Tckaev put up a strong fight, but two "yuko" scores from Grigalashvili proved to be decisive.
In the bronze medal match, he faced UAE’s Nuqzari Tatalašvili. The match was tough, but Tckaev’s tactical preparation played a key role. Although Tatalašvili tried to gain the upper hand from the start, our judoka launched sharp counterattacks and came close to securing a painful technique early on. Despite making several attempts for successful throws, Tatalashvili held his ground but received two "shidos" for passivity. In the Golden Score period, Tckaev continued to press the attack, and as a result of the pressure, Tatalashvili earned a third "shido" — giving Tckaev the bronze medal at the World Championship.
This medal, as they say, came at just the right time. For Tckaev, the bronze officially confirmed that his talent is recognized on the world stage, and it also marked Azerbaijan’s first medal at the Budapest World Championship.
Thanks to this bronze, our team climbed to 15th place in the overall standings and has the potential to improve further. There are still three days of individual competitions and a team tournament ahead.
Zaki Feyzullayev
Idman.biz
