Shamil Borchashvili breathed heavily in the capital of Mongolia: “Finally back on the podium,” said the 27-year-old after his performances at the Grand Slam tournament in Ulaanbaatar. The 27-year-old Marchtrenker won silver in the class up to 81 kilograms, it was his first podium finish on the Judo World Tour since the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, where he celebrated bronze.
The Multikraft Wels athlete won three fights in a row at the first Olympic qualifying tournament. Only in the final did he have to face the South Korean Beneath Lee Joonhwan with a shoulder throw score, his opponent had previously knocked out Olympic champion Takunori Nagase of Japan and celebrated his second win in his second appearance on the World Tour.
Started late
„It annoys me that I got into the fight too late against Lee. Only at the end did I fight like I had planned. On the other hand: But I can live with second place. Three years ago I started the Olympic qualification with zero points. Now I have an important 350 points right away,” said Borchashvili after the work was done.
ÖJV head coach Yvonne Bönisch summed up: “Lee was a blank slate until a few weeks ago. But now you have to have him on the bill for the World Cup in October. Shamil struggled a bit, unfortunately he quickly fell behind. It’s okay to lose, but Lee isn’t unbeatable either. Next time, Shamil can certainly turn the tables.”
