JUDO
FEDERATION

Silver medal of 26-years-old Azamat Mukanov became the first and the last one in Kazakhstani judo team’s collection at the world championship in Rio de Janeiro (August, 26 – September,1). According to the results of Brazilian championship our team took 14’Th place, and Mukanov returned home as a national hero…

- There is one month passed, but people congratulate me up to now, - Azamat says. – As if the world championship has been finished yesterday. These are so good feelings (smiling). Because, this medal is my highest award in judo.

- You have moved in judo from sambo four years ago. Why?

- It’s very simple. I have already become the world champion for that moment, I would like something more. Judo is an Olympic sport; therefore… it should be clear.

- As a result, you became the second one at the world championship. Tell us, were you glad about it, or, on the contrary, upset? Which fight was the most difficult?

- The fight for final was extremely stressful, where I battled with the famous judoka from Ukraine – Georgiy Zantaraya (the world champion – 2009 – author’s note). I have to take some pains to defeat him. In the decisive fight against the Japanese (Masasi Ebinuma – the world champion of 2011, bronze-prize winner of London Olympics – author’s note) everything was good at the beginning. I took the advantage, won two “shido” and, really, I was close to win the gold medal. However, I lost advantage at the end. It’s a great pity, of course, but, on the other hand, even one silver medal is a good result foe the team. I must become the first one at the nezt world championship in Chelyabinsk.

- You became the honorary guest at the world Grand-Prix in Almaty. Judo Federation rewarded you with a certificate for 7 500 000 tenge, and Confederation – for 5 000 000 tenge. After summing up this is a really great sum. How do you want to spend it? Or you haven’t decided yet?

- No, the destiny of this money is known (smiling). I want to buy the flat in Almaty.

- It’s a splendid idea! Finally, there are some words about Grand-Prix, which you have missed…

- Our guys performed very well on the native area. Especially, I was surprised with the result in the weight class up to 60 kg. Four Kazakhstani judokas were standing at the pedestal at once – I saw that only at the Japanese team. And just for one time…

- Which are your next starts?

- There are two of them this year. They are the world club championship in Astana (November), where we are going to defend the honor of our “TAK Astana Club”, as well as Tokyo Grand Slam (December).

Azamat Mukanov’s way at the world championship 2013:

- a victory over Alim Gadanov (Russia, the European champion-2012) – the first round

- a victory over Joel Tseng (Singapore) – the second round

- a victory over Kolin Wots (The Great Britain) – the third round

- a victory over Masaaki Fukuoka (Japan) – quarterfinal

- a victory over Georgiy Zantaraya (Ukraine, the world champion-2009) – semifinal

- a defeat from Masasi Ebinuma (Japan, the world champion of 2011, bronze-prize winner of London Olympics) – final

Timur Bayketaev (photo is made by the author)