D. SUMIYA SNATCHES GOLD AFTER FIERCE BATTLE AT WORLD JUDO CHAMPIONSHIPS
Rio 2017 Summer Olympics silver medalist, State Honored Athlete D. Sumiya became the second woman to win the World Championship title, after claiming a gold medal in Budapest, Hungary.
After an epic women’s 57 kg final between D. Sumiya and world number one Yoshida Tsukasa of Japan, D. Sumiya won on the International Judo Federation’s biggest stage.
Their 13-minute duel was fierce and both judokas showed brilliant and exciting performances. D. Sumiya’s victory was a sensation on the social media.
The President of Mongolia and president of the Mongolian Judo Association Kh. Battulga watched the final with excitement and almost cried after D. Sumiya’s win. The Mongolian audiences in the crowd raised their state flag and sang the national anthem proudly as D. Sumiya stood on the podium.
President Kh. Battulga said, “The gold medal is very important. We are here to get the gold medal. We were planning on getting the gold medal in the 48 kg category but we could only get the silver.”
“Today is a great day for Mongolia and we still have great judokas to come. We won against Japan and took the first title for a non-Japanese athlete. France won its first medal of the competition and we have now four medals. Judo is becoming the number one sport in my country. But judo is much more than a sport. It is discipline and education, as well as respect, and in judo, we bow to each other. Today we have discovered the new heroes of Mongolia.”
International Sports Master G. Odbayar won a bronze medal in men’s 73 kg competition, becoming the 12th Mongolian judoka to secure a medal from the World Championships. In the bronze medal contest, G. Odbayar defeated 20-year-old Azeri Heydarov of Azarbaijan with a drop seoi-nage (shoulder throw) for a waza-ari score.
As of today, Mongolia has collected one gold, one silver and two bronze medals, ranking second among 126 countries.