Judoka Arik Ze’evi secured a second medal for Israel in Moscow’s Judo Grand Slam on Sunday, after Yarden Gerbi won a bronze medal on Saturday.
Ze’evi, who competed in the -100kg category, picked a gold medal in the final against France’s Cyrille Maret, who is ranked 25th in the world and even won the recent Judo World Cup in Warsaw. He beat his rival three second before the end of the match with a wazari which turned into an ippon and gave him the gold.
The Israeli judoka won $5,000 and 3,000 points, which bring him very close to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Ze’evi began his day by beating his young Belarusian rival with an ippon, one minute and 46 seconds into the fight.
In the final 16, Ze’evi was faced by Abdurakhmonov Mukhamadmurod of Tajikistan. Five minutes into the fight, the scoreboard pointed to a yuko in favor of the Israeli, which was enough to send him to the quarter-final against Egypt’s Darwish, who is ranked eighth in the world.
The fight saw each side using his own tactics to overcome the rival. Forty second before the end of the match, Ze’evi managed to score a yuko and win.
The drama began at the end of the fight, when the referee signaled a handshake between the contestants. But Darwish ignored the order and began leaving. Several moments later, after repeated requests, the Egyptian walked to the center of the mattress, bowed to the referee and left.
In the semi-final, Ze’evi beat Kazakhstan’s Maxim Rakov, the world champion, with an ippon in one of his greatest achievements so far.
Last time Israel kicked Egypt’s ass, we got a peace treaty out of it.
It is now that peace treaty that seems to be lying down and out on the floor.
A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media
A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media
