Israeli judoka wins bronze after Iranian pulls out of competition
Brimanloo made sure to disqualify himself by being overweight in the weigh-in ahead of the start of the competition.
By ALLON SINAIUpdated: FEBRUARY 25, 2018 13:46Israeli judoka Tohar Butbul (in white).(photo credit: INTERNATIONAL JUDO FEDERATION/COURTESY)
After being gifted a place into the last 16 by the withdrawal of an Iranian opponent, Israeli judoka Tohar Butbul went on to win a bronze medal at the Dusseldorf Grand Slam in Germany on Saturday.Butbul, competing in the under-73 kilogram competition, received a bye into the second round where he was supposed to meet the winner of the bout between American Nick Delpopolo and Iran’s Mohammad Mahdi Brimanloo. However, after Delpopolo had to pull out injured, Brimanloo made sure to disqualify himself by being overweight in the weigh-in ahead of the start of the competition, sending Butbul into the last 16.Tohar Butbul match at Dusseldorf Grand Slam (YouTube/ Judo Klub Crvena Zvezda - Judo Club Red Star)It remains to be seen if the International Judo Federation decides to take action against Brimanloo and follow in the footsteps of the world wrestling governing body which banned Iranian Alireza Karimi for six months last weekend after he was found guilty of deliberately throwing a match last November to avoid facing Israeli Uri Kalashnikov.The United World Wrestling wrote in a statement that Karimi violated regulations when he intentionally lost to a Russian competitor in the quarterfinals of the under-23 wrestling world championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, so that he wouldn’t need to face Kalashnikov, who went on to win a bronze medal.Karimi’s coach, Hamidreza Jamshidi, was banned for two years for instructing his wrestler to lose.On Saturday, Butbul was beaten by Odbayar Ganbaatar of Mongolia in the quarterfinals, but overcame Germans Anthony Zingg and Igor Wandtke in the repechage to claim a bronze medal.Israel’s delegation to Dusseldorf picked up its first medal on Friday, with Baruch Shmailov taking a bronze in the under-66kg event, beating Yakub Shamilov of Russia in the decisive bout.
