The second day of the Kazakhstan Barysy Grand Slam opened with a colourful ceremony featuring a range of cultural performances and remarks from the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, the IJF director general, and the president of the Kazakhstan Judo Federation.
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00:00 The second day of the Kazakhstan Bariji Grand Slam in Astana promised to deliver yet another
00:05 day of fantastic judo action. A ceremony saw cultural performances and opening remarks
00:11 from the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Golemjan Khoyshivayev.
00:15 "Judo is rightfully considered one of the most popular and spectacular forms of martial
00:22 arts. This sport has a broad development across the country. Today more than 150,000 people
00:29 practice judo in Kazakhstan. We express special gratitude to the International Judo Federation
00:35 for its trust in Kazakhstan to hold the ranking tournament for Olympic Games."
00:40 And there were speeches from IJF Director General Vlad Maronescu and the President of
00:45 Kazakhstan Judo Federation, Hunishbek Yesekiev.
00:49 At 63 kilograms, youngster Katerina Khristo from Croatia faced Andrei Oleshki. Khristo
00:55 overcame the multiple world medalist to win her first Grand Slam gold. Kazakhstan Minister
01:01 of Tourism and Sport, Yermak Majikvayev awarded the medals.
01:05 "Kazakhstan, the crowd is so powerful, so many kids, so many people. Here people, you
01:11 can see that they love judo and they are not just sitting there, they are cheering you
01:15 on even if you are not from their country. When you score, they live that moment with
01:20 you and I really love to fight with them."
01:24 In the 73 kilo final, Manuel Lombardo took on Danil Lavrentyev. Lombardo caught his opponent
01:30 by surprise, throwing him with the sleeve-lift pull-hip throw just six seconds to score Wazari.
01:36 He held on to secure his fourth Grand Slam gold. He was awarded his medal by Kazakhstan's
01:42 Deputy Prime Minister, Gulamzhan Koyshivaev.
01:44 "Strange, I think I'm more popular in Kazakhstan than in Italy. In my own city, even my neighbours
01:52 don't know me, so it's strange. It's a good feeling. I love Kazakhstan, so it's very nice
01:58 to fight here and I'm very happy that the crowd enjoyed my judo."
02:05 At 70 kilograms, junior Thais Pina of Portugal put pressure on Croatian world medalist, Lara
02:12 Cvetko. She capitalised, throwing Cvetko for Ipon with Uranage, arriving firmly on the
02:18 senior scene. The medals were awarded by Kazakhstan's Judo Federation President, Hunushbek Yesykeev.
02:25 The 81 kilo category final saw Sharif Fidan Boltaboyev's comeback, where he took on Timo
02:31 Kavelius. The Uzbek judoka controlled the contest and threw with a massive Uranage for
02:37 Wazari, sealing a strong victory. He was awarded his medal by Samruk Kazino CEO, Nulan Jakupov.
02:45 One of the fantastic things about holding a Grand Slam in Kazakhstan is the sheer scale
02:50 of action in the preliminaries. So many talented judoka performing so strongly in front of
02:55 a judo-crazy crowd. See you tomorrow for the final day of competition.