REPUTATION AND POWER JUDO TOURNAMENT CONCLUDES
Mongolia’s top judokas competed in the Reputation and Power judo tournament, named after State Honored Athlete D.Tserenkhand, which was held on March 16 at ASA Circus.
Eight male and six female judokas challenged themselves in the tournament, which had a prize pool of 50 million MNT.
A team of Olympic and world medalists and State Honored Athletes defeated a team of International Sports Master titled athletes 5:2 at the tournament and received 40 million MNT.
International Sports Master titled athletes’ team was awarded 10 million MNT.
During the tournament, Olympic champion N.Tuvshinbayar and Olympic silver medalist D.Sumiya sold their judogis (judo uniforms) through an auction.
Bidding for N.Tuvshinbayar’s judogi started at one million MNT and was sold for 8,000,000 MNT.
Olympic silver medalist judoka D.Sumiya’s judogi was sold for 3,600,000 MNT.
State Honored Athlete, Labor Hero N.Tuvshinbayar said, “I organized this tournament with my friends Labor Hero Kh.Tsagaanbaatar and world jiu-jitsu champion O.Bold-Erdene. The purpose of the tournament is to promote judo and pay honor to senior judoka D.Tserenkhand. D.Tserenkhand’s husband is a Mongolian traditional wrestler, Lion of Province Altanshagai. He became disabled because of an accident. That’s why I will donate a portion of the prize money I won from the tournament and the proceeds from the auction to Tserenkhand’s family and the Mongolian National Association of Wheelchair Users.”
STATE HONORED ATHLETES PROVE
THEIR STRENGTH
The Reputation and Power tournament started with the match between world champion G.Boldbaatar and International Sports Master D.Tumurkhuleg in the men’s 66 kg. D.Tumurkhuleg led the match with waza-ari in the first round, but ended up losing to G.Boldbaatar in the second round.
State champion of 2016 and 2017, International Sports Master B.Gankhaich and State Honored Athlete Ts.Munkhzaya competed in the women’s 63 kg event. Ts.Munkhzaya, who passed the State Judo Championship 2016, announced her retirement from judo after the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics. She said she decided to compete this time to honor her fans’ requests. She lost to B.Gankhaich.
In the men’s 60 kg, World Championship silver medalist D.Amartuvshin faced against current state champion J.Amarbold, and won 2:1.
Olympic bronze medalist and world champion Kh.Tsagaanbaatar, who retired from judo after the Astana 2015 World Championship, made a surprise comeback on the tatami. He competed against International Sports Master O.Uuganbaatar in the men’s 81 kg event, but lost after he grew tired. O.Uuganbaatar beat Kh.Tsagaanbaatar with a wazaari.
Winner of the Chinggis Khaan Grand Prix 2016 L.Enkhriilen, 17, faced a tough opponent in the women’s 57 kg match. Her opponent was Olympic silver medalist D.Sumiya, who claimed an easy victory over the teen athlete.
In the men’s +100 kg category, Olympic champion N.Tuvshinbayar fought International Sports Master U.Duurenbayar. Labor Hero N.Tuvshinbayar won with a waza-ari.
The most anticipated match was the faceoff between world champion M.Urantsetseg and Mongolian-born judoka of Kazakhstan G.Otgontsetseg in the women’s 48 kg event. M.Urantsetseg and G.Otgontsetseg faced each other on the tatami six times since G.Otgontsetseg became a citizen of Kazakhstan. M.Urantsetseg claimed victory with a waza-ari.
D.TSERENKHAND ANNOUNCES
RETIREMENT
Senior judoka D.Tserenkhand has been an athlete since 1989, and she devoted 26 years of her life to judo. She announced her retirement from judo to the crowd at the Reputation and Power tournament.
After her announcement, D.Tserenkhand said, “I didn’t compete on the tatami since claiming victory at the State Judo Championship 2015. From that time, I started thinking about retirement. I couldn’t hide my tears after announcing my retirement. I told myself not to cry, but I cried. I am very thankful to my brothers who organized this tournament for me. I also want to express my gratitude to judokas who competed in the tournament. I competed in the Beijing 2008 Olympics and came in fifth place. I am very happy that D.Sumiya updated my achievement and secured a silver medal from the Olympics. She is the first female Mongolian judoka to win a medal from the Olympics. My achievement at the Beijing 2008 Olympics was the highest before D.Sumiya won a medal. I almost won a bronze medal that time, but I lost. I wanted female judokas to win an Olympic medal for a long time. D.Sumiya fulfilled my wish.”