Jorge Fonseca, two-time world champion in -100 kg, finished the World Judo Championship in seventh position, after falling in the playoffs, to which he had relegated after being defeated by Kotsoiev in the quarterfinals.
In Tashkent, the Sporting judoka, leader of the world ranking, won the first two matches and lost another two, the last one against the Georgian Ilia Sulamanidze (sixth in the world), by ‘ippon’, after being immobilized.
Previously, Jorge Fonseca had defeated Romanian Asley González, former Olympic runner-up, world champion and Pan American champion, still in the -90 kg category, and Serbian Bojan Dosen, by ‘ippon’. In the quarterfinals he lost to Kotsoiev, falling in the play-off that would give access to the bronze medal. However, he was eventually eliminated by Ilia Sulamanidze.
Fonseca, who was proclaimed world champion in 2019 in Tokyo and 2021 in Budapest, becoming the first Portuguese world champion in this sport, started as number one in the world and great favorite.
The qualifiers in Tashkent began an hour later on Tuesday, at 11:00 local time (05:00 in Lisbon), and the medal matches are scheduled for 17:00 (13:00).
Source: TSF
