U.Duurenbayar: I am delighted to return to judo
Judoka U.Duurenbayar started this interview by saying, “After failing in judo qualification tournaments for the 2016 Olympic Games, I got disappointed in my judo career, so I stopped training for over a year and started training in national wrestling, but my former coaches, fellow judokas, family and friends convinced me to return to judo. Coming back to judo was a wise choice for me. If I didn’t make this decision, I couldn’t have reached my dream to win a medal from the World Championships.”
U.Duurenbayar, who won bronze medal in the men’s +100 kg division at the 2018 World Judo Championships held in Baku, Azerbaijan from September 20 to 27, was born to a wrestler’s family.
He is the son of ulsyn nachin L.Ulziibayar, whose father is ulsyn zaan D.Luvsan. State Honored Athlete L.Enkhbayar, a bronze medalist of the World Wrestling Championships, is U.Duurenbayar’s uncle. He also has famous wrestlers are on his mother’s side, for instance, ulsyn zaan R.Davaanyam whose is the father of Japanese professional sumo’s 70th yokozuna Harumafuji, and ulsyn garid N.Ganbaatar is a close relative of his mother.
U.Duurenbayar is a member of Aldar Sports Committee and is the 16th Mongolian judoka to win a medal from the World Judo Championships.
It’s been several days since you returned home from the championships, how much have you rested?
Not yet. Just few days ago, my former coach D.Enkhtur passed away, and after I arrived in Ulaanbaatar, I participated in my coach’s funeral.
I regret not meeting my coach after getting a World Championships medal. Even though when I won a bronze medal at the championships, my coach was alive, the match I won this bronze medal made him so happy, and he was so glad to watch me win. Unfortunately, he died the next day. As I am exhausted from the championships, I want to relax by taking time with my two sons and wife for a few days. Especially, the mixed team competition made me too tired and nervous, more so than the bronze medal contest because President Kh.Battulga watched the competition.
Could you tell us about your family?
My wife is a retired judoka named Khandarmaa, and I have two sons named Bayarjavkhlan and Bayarmagnai. My wife used to train in judo when she was young, which is why she understands and helps me much. Due to heavy training, I spend most of my time on the mat and cannot care for my family, but my wife makes a living without me. She cooks very well and cares for me when I get injured. Her efforts help me create a large part of my achievements.
After winning the bronze medal in Baku, did you want to come home quickly to celebrate your achievement with your family, friends, coaches and judokas?
Of course, I could not sleep well on the night of the bronze medal match because of my happiness and sorrow from defeat in the semi-final and victory in the bronze medal match. I am happy to reach my dream to see my mother feel joy because of my achievement in judo, but I feel sad to celebrate an important moment of my judo career without my beloved trainer and coach D.Enkhtur. After watching me win the medal, my trainer had his military uniform cleaned up at a dry cleaning to welcome me at the airport, unfortunately, he could not do it.
Your parents live in the countryside. Are they in Ulaanbaatar now to see their son?
Only my mother has arrived in Ulaanbaatar, my father is not here. My mother said to me, “I could not remember feeling this much happiness in the history of my life, and am proud of my son.” When I spoke with my father on the phone, I felt how much excited he was. My mother told me that my father was extremely excited to watch my victory as a large part of his life was dedicated to wrestling.
As undefeated French judoka Teddy Riner, who won gold medals at all World Judo Championships since 2007 and two Olympic gold medals, did not participated in the 2018 World Judo Championships, it was a great opportunity for the world’s leading judokas in the +100 kg weight category to become a world champion. You had a chance to become this year’s championship, but you lost to Guram Tushishvili of Georgia in the semi-final. You won against him before, but you lost to him this year. What caused your defeat?
Tushishvili performs a shoulder throw (seoi nage) in an excellent manner and as I respond to his this technique very well, I was never afraid of competing against him and I had more hope to win. As I won against him in the bronze medal match at the Paris Grand Slam 2017, I thought that I could win this year, but unfortunately, the match did not go the way I expected and the tactics I had in mind did not work out.
The fact that I did not attack him during the five minutes of the match was my fault, and I was thinking of a counter-attack for his trick. I felt shocked after losing to him in an important round. After my defeat, I tried to get out of the difficult state in which I was after losing to Tushishvili, but I could not do it. I obsessed about the mistake that led to my defeat in the semi-final while walking on the mat for the bronze medal contest. Even today, I regret my mistake, and when competing against Tushishvili the next time, I will try to win without making such mistakes.
...After athletes overcome many difficulties and tough problems like injuries and disappointment, they will achieve success in sports, which is why becoming a successful
athlete is very difficult...
You defeated Olympic gold medalist and world champion Lukas Krpalek of the Czech Republic in the bronze medal contest. Mongolian Olympic gold medalist N.Tuvshinbayar lost to Krpalek in the third round. If Krpalek beat you, you would have missed a great chance to claim a medal. Were you afraid of him?
I did not fear him and I felt brave. As the shock after losing in the semi-final did not leave me, I was full of energy and was confident that I would perform what I had in mind to secure my medal. By the way, I participated in the World Championships three times, which gave me more experience, so I didn’t want to miss that chance.
In the first minutes of the match, I took Krpalek down with a knee wheel technique (hizaguruma), which encouraged me to continue my active attacks against him. My mother, wife and younger brother all prayed for my victory and they worshipped mountains and the sky to let me succeed in the tournament on the day I won the bronze medal, and many Mongolians prayed for my victory, which may have helped me win the bronze medal.
Who knows? As I won a gold medal from the 2018 National Judo World Championship and won silver medals from Hohhot Grand Prix 2018, an international judo tournament held in China’s Inner Mongolia, and the 2018 Asian Games, I had great hope to succeed in this World Championships.
As N.Tuvshinbayar won a bronze medal from in the men’s +100 kg competition at the 2017 World Judo Championships, his achievement gave Mongolian judokas in the heavyweight category great hope to win a medal from the World Championships or Olympic Games in this class of weight.
To tell you the truth, I have earned half of my techniques and tricks from N.Tuvshinbayar whose achievements have led to young Mongolian judokas to succeed in judo. In addition, heavyweight judokas B.Temuulen, B.Sugarjargal and N.Batsuuri taught me a lot in judo. Thanks to the Mongolian Judo Association, Aldar Sports Committee, and the national judo team, a lot of Mongolian judokas have made notable achievements in recent years.
There are few heavyweight wrestlers in Mongolia’s judo and freestyle wrestling, which affect achievements of Mongolian heavyweight wrestlers, according to wrestlers and experts. How much do you think this affects your career and achievements?
This is a tough challenge facing heavyweight wrestlers in Mongolia. Many young wrestlers who have potentials to make brilliant achievements on the world stage left judo and freestyle wrestling due to shortage of trainers in the heavyweight division.
In Mongolia, heavyweight judoka prepare by wrestling half-heavyweight wrestlers whose weight is less than 100 kilos. As weight differences between heavyweight and half-heavyweight judoka are at least 30 kilos to 40 kilos, we are not satisfied with our training, which is why Mongolian heavyweight judokas could not achieve in world class competitions.
N.Tuvshinbayar said to me, “When you train half-heavyweight wrestlers, your self-awareness will be improved and your speed will increase, which is why you need to train with half-heavyweight wrestlers to improve your weakness in these areas.”
As a result of discussion between coaches and heavyweight wrestlers on how to deal with training challenge facing us, we found a good way. This is to train with Mongolian national wrestlers for a week, which is a very beneficial for us as most national wrestlers weigh more than 120 kilos.
Do you want your sons to become a judoka or an athlete?
I will not force them to become an athlete. They will choose their study, aspirations and interests.
After athletes overcome many difficulties and tough problems like injuries and disappointment, they will achieve success in sports, which is why becoming a successful athlete is very difficult.
What do you usually do in your free time?
I like listening to music and playing guitar and piano. In addition, I like learning foreign languages.
What kind of music do you play?
It depends on what I feel, but I like playing music composed by State Honored Composer N.Jantsannorov. I sometimes bring my guitar to my training. When playing guitar after an intense training session, I feel strong and fully recover.