Day 3 Produces Three Top-16 Finishes for U.S. Judoka at Junior Worlds

(Colorado Springs, CO) – Three American athletes finished in the top 16 of their respective weight divisions on Friday during the third day of competition at the Junior World Championships in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

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In her Junior World Championship debut, Nancy Nguyen (San Jose, Calif. / San Jose State University Judo), a Podgorica Junior European Cup champion and Junior Pan American Championships silver medalist received a bye into the round of 32 of the women’s 70 kg category where she faced African Junior Championships silver medalist Nassma Essatouri (MAR). In the fight’s third minute, Nguyen showed off her ground skills by securing a pin to win by ippon (instant win). In the round of 16, Nguyen fought a closely contested match with returning Junior Worlds bronze medalist Kaja Schuster (SLO). Both judoka were given a shido (penalty) for non-combativity in the opening minute and Nguyen picked up her second penalty at the 2:37 mark for stalling. Less than a minute later, both fighters were again cited for non-combativity, marking Nguyen’s third and disqualifying shido and awarding the match to Schuster via ippon. Schuster would go on to claim one of the bronze medals in the division.

Also competing in her first Junior World Championships in the women’s 70 kg competition was Chloe Williams (Stafford, Va. / Wall 2 Wall Martial Arts). Williams, a two-time Cadet World Championships participant, also received a bye into the round of 32 where she faced Almaty Asian Junior Cup silver medalist Firuza Azamova (IJF). Azamova was able to land two waza-ari (half-point) throws in the first 1:09 of the contest to defeat Williams and advance to the round of 16.

2023 bronze medalist Elena Dengg (AUT) upgraded her hardware to gold this year as she defeated April Lynn Fohouo (SUI) in the women’s 70 kg final. Tayla Grauer (GER) won the other bronze medal alongside Schuster.

Dominic Rodriguez (Lehigh Acres, Fla. / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center) returned for his third Junior World Championships as the No. 4 seed in the men’s 81 kg competition. After receiving a bye into the round of 32, Rodriguez matched up with 2023 Cadet World Champion Boris Rutovic (SRB). The match went the full four minutes with Rodriguez scoring the winning waza-ari just over a minute into the contest. That advanced the American into the round of 16 to fight host country judoka Muhammad Yusufzoda (TJK) who scored an immediate waza-ari just 14 seconds into the match. After an apparent ippon by Rodriguez was not confirmed on video review, Yusufzoda responded with the winning waza-ari just seconds later to clinch the victory. The Tajikistan fighter would go on to finish fifth.

Luka Javakhishvili (GEO) won the men’s 81 kg gold medal by defeating Jiangnan Wang (CHN) in the final. Bronze medals went to Suleyman Shukurov (AZE) and Azat Kumisbay (KAZ).

The third weight category contested on Friday was the men’s 90 kg division. Nineteen-year-old Oleksandr Nyzhnyk (Los Gatos, Calif. / Nakano Judo Academy / USA Judo National Resident Team) made his second straight Junior World Championships appearance and entered the event after winning the Pan American Junior Championships in April. Nyzhnyk received a bye into the round of 32 where he drew Yan Boyin (CHN). Nyzhnyk controlled the match from the start, scoring a waza-ari 25 seconds in and then ending the match with a second waza-ari at the 1:34 mark. The round of 16 contest between Nyzhnyk and Vadim Ghimbovschi (MDA) went into the final seconds of the four-minute allotted time before Ghimbovschi scored an ippon with three seconds remaining. Ghimbovschi would go on to win a bronze medal along with Alisher Samanov (UZB). Top-seeded Komei Kawabata (JPN) won the men’s 90 kg gold medal with a victory over Egor Malkin (IJF) in the final.

The individual competition concludes on Saturday with the men’s 100 kg and +100 kg divisions, as well as the women’s 78 kg and +78 kg competition. Taking to the tatami for the U.S. team will be reigning Senior, Junior Olympic and Youth Nationals gold medalist and 2024 Pan American Junior Championships gold medalist Daniel Liubimovski (Staten Island, N.Y. / Colton Brown Training Center) in the men’s 100 kg. Nineteen-year-old Alex Semenenko (Staten Island, N.Y. / NYAC / Generation Judo Club) will make his second Junior World Championships appearance alongside Armen Akojyan (Glendale, Calif. / Glendale Judo Academy) in the men’s +100 kg competition. This will mark Akojyan’s Junior World Championships debut.

Top eight and U.S. results from Day 3 are as follows:

Men’s 81 kg
1. Luka Javakhishvili (GEO)
2. Jiangnan Wang (CHN)
3. Suleyman Shukurov (AZE)
3. Azat Kumisbay (KAZ)
5. Muhammad Yusufzoda (TJK)
5. Sunatullo Musoev (TJK)
7. Luan Almeida (BRA)
7. Joshua DeLange (NED)
Also Competed: Dominic Rodriguez (Lehigh Acres, Fla. / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center), 1-1

Women’s 70 kg
1. Elena Dengg (AUT)
2. April Lynn Fohouo (SUI)
3. Kaja Schuster (SLO)
3. Tayla Grauer (GER)
5. Huiting Yuan (CHN)
5. Rin Maeda (JPN)
7. Kaillany Cordoso (BRA)
7. Aina Laura Rasoanaivo Razafy (MAD)
Also Competed: Nancy Nguyen (San Jose, Calif. / San Jose State University Judo), 1-1; Chloe Williams (Stafford, Va. / Wall 2 Wall Martial Arts), 0-1

Men’s 90 kg
1. Komei Kawabata (JPN)
2. Egor Malkin (IJF)
3. Alisher Samanov (UZB)
3. Vadim Ghimbovschi (MDA)
5. Henry Owusu Asare Owusu (ITA)
5. Sakar Birzhanov (KAZ0
7. Aslan Kotsoev (AZE)
7. Ivan Kutenkov (UKR)
Also Competed: Oleksandr Nyzhnyk (Los Gatos, Calif. / Nakano Judo Academy / USA Judo National Resident Team), 1-1