Tajik judokas became participants in the victory of the Kazakh "Zhenys" club, which won the title of champion of the Eastern Division of the Continental Judo League. The tournament was held in Tyumen and brought together the best clubs from Russia, Kazakhstan and the CIS countries.
Eight strongest men's clubs took part in the competition, which were divided into two groups: A: "Ural-West Siberia" (Yekaterinburg), "Rodina" (Yekaterinburg) and "Tyumen-Judo-2"; B: "Zhenys" (Kazakhstan), "Tyumen-Judo" and Barnaul "Triumph", the Tajik Judo Federation told "Asia-Plus".
The "Zhenis" club, for which Makhmadbekov and Dzhebov played, confidently passed the group stage, winning all the meetings. In the semifinals, the team showed strength by beating the reigning "Ural-West Siberia" League champion with a score of 3:2.
In the second semi-final, the "Tyumen-Judo" team defeated "Rodina", also with a score of 3:2. Thus, the finals turned into an intense Eastern Division derby.
In the decisive match, "Zhenis" demonstrated the will to win and managed to break the resistance of the hosts of the tournament, the "Tyumen-Judo" team. The score of 3:1 allowed the Kazakh club to win the trophy and receive 800 thousand Russian rubles in prize money.
Tajik judokas played a key role in the success. Somon Makhmadbekov and Obid Dzhebov had bright fights and made a great contribution to the overall result of the team.
After the final, Obid Dzhebov, the winner of the last World Championship in Budapest, shared his impressions.
"My performance wasn't quite successful today: they didn't reach me in one meeting, and I lost in the other. But I'm very happy for the team – everyone fought to the end. Team tournaments are very different from personal ones: one for all and all for one, you cannot fail. Such competitions have a special atmosphere and excitement," – he said.
Makhmadbekov, in turn, noted that such tournaments help to gain experience, work out tactical schemes and test themselves in duels with the strongest rivals in the region.
The Continental Judo League is a project created by the Russian Judo Federation. The competition is held annually and brings together the strongest club teams from Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Tajikistan and other CIS countries.
The "Zhenis" club is now preparing for the final stage of the Continental League, which will be held on November 1 in Moscow. There, the Kazakh team will face the winners of other divisions, including rivals from Central and Western Russia.
