Munkhbat claims gold at Abu Dhabi Judo Grand Slam

Olympic champion Paula Pareto forced to settle for bronze

World No 3 Urantsetseg Munkhbat of Mongolia lived up to her top billing in the women’s 48kg category by clinching gold at the Abu Dhabi Judo Grand Slam which got underway at the Mubadala Arena yesterday.

Five-time Grand Prix winner Munkhbat, who was aiming for her first gold medal since the Tashkent Grand Prix a year ago, defeated world junior champion Distria Krasniqi of Kosovo.

“I’m very happy with the win, the competition was tough here. It was good to go with the gold after a tough battle. There were some top judokas and hence the win is all the more relieving,” said a jubilant Munkhbat.

Argentina’s Paula Pareto, Rio 2016 Olympics champion and 2018 Worlds bronze medallist, finished with a bronze following her win over Milica Nikolic of Serbia. China’s Li Yanan also settled for bronze in the same category after beating Hungary’s Eva Csernoviczki.

“I’m a bit low in power as I’m here after figuring in a few back-to-back events. It showed on me today. Despite all that, to finish with a bronze is great and I’m happy to return with it,” said Pareto, who won the first Cancun Grand Prix 2018 gold medal with victory in the lightest category of the competition earlier this month.

In the men’s 60kg category, Georgia’s Amiran Papinashvili took gold, beating Spaniard Francisco Garrigos. The bronze medal was bagged by Gusman Kyrgyzbayev of Kazakhstan and Sharafuddin Lutfillaev of Uzbekistan.